The Power of Mew
by Akari Sennyami
Summary: (Complete!) Arriving at Opal Town, Ash and co are looking forward to a new adventure. But when Misty falls ill and disappears without a trace, their quest becomes more than just a battle for a gym badge, with much more at stake than Ash had expected.
1. Opal Town

*Disclaimer*  Don't own Pokemon, don't own the names or characters therein, all I own is a PC and net access.  There we go.  ^_^

-Thank you SO much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story: it has encouraged me no end.  ^_^

**Chapter One**

**Opal Town******

"There!  There it is!  Quick, come look!" Ash called over his shoulder to his friends.  He hopped impatiently from one foot to the other as Brock, Misty and Pikachu plodded wearily towards him.  "Opal Town!" he announced triumphantly.

  "At last," moaned Misty, when she saw the little town ahead.  "It seems like we've been wandering through that forest forever!"  She plonked herself down on a nearby rock, heaving a big sigh.

  "Well, if Ash hadn't insisted on going along the path that wasn't even on the map, we'd have gotten here ages ago," said Brock, taking the map out of his bag and examining it ruefully.

  "A _real_ Pokemon master should be able to find the way for himself.  Trainers like _me_ don't get tired so easy," Ash said, with a smirk at Misty, who was still sitting on the rock, her head drooped with tiredness.

  "Hey!  I'm just as good a trainer as you, and you know it, Ash Ketchum!" she yelled, springing from her rock in anger, clenching her fists.  Ash put up his hands in mock surrender, and smiled weakly.

  Pikachu suddenly keeled over with a little sigh.  

  "Pikachu!" cried Ash, picking him up gently.  He took off his jacket, and wrapped his little friend in it carefully.  "Are you okay, buddy?"  The large shiny eyes opened a little. 

  "Pik-ahh," he sighed.

  "We've been walking for ages, Ash.  He must be exhausted," said Brock.  

  "Yeah, I think you're right," Ash admitted, worriedly.  

  "We should find the Pokemon Center in that town, and quick," Misty pointed out.

  Ash took that as a cue to start sprinting down the path.  The trees fell away behind, and large, open meadows spread out on either side.  The wind blew a little, but it was cool and refreshing after the heat of the day.  The sun was just starting to set on the horizon, throwing blazing oranges and pinks up into the sky.  But Ash didn't notice any of it.  All his Pokemon trainer's eyes could see was Pikachu's tired little body in his arms, and the houses ahead.  

  "Wait up, Ash!" cried Misty, running after him with Brock close behind.  

When they finally entered the town, stars were appearing overhead.  They soon saw the lights of the Pokemon Center.  They were just about the only lights still on: it was pretty late.  The trio pushed open the door and wandered in, looking around for someone to help them.  The room was almost completely empty: one girl sat on one of the benches along the wall.  She was sitting very still, with her head down, looking at the floor.  She looked up at the noise of the three friends entrance, her blue eyes glazed over with tiredness, as well as curiosity.  They barely noticed her, as Nurse Joy appeared at the same moment.  

  "How can I help you?" she asked, in a pleasant voice, which matched the smile on her pretty face.

  "My Pikachu's really tired.  It collapsed just now.  Can you help it?" asked Ash, anxiously.

  "Of course I can," she said, walking over.

  Brock suddenly raced over, and grabbed her hands.  "You're so beautiful! You're the most beautiful Nurse Joy of them all!" he cried, with a red blush across his face.

  "Uh…" she said, looking at him with a confused expression.

  "Get back to the real world, Romeo," Misty intervened sternly, grabbing his ear and dragging him away.

  "Um, sorry about that," Ash apologized, going red.

  "That's fine...  So, could I have your Pikachu?" she smiled politely.

  "Sure.  Oh, and here's my other Pokemon."  

  Joy carefully carried Pikachu and the tray of Pokeballs through a doorway, and the waiting room was quiet again.

  "How can one Joy be more beautiful than any of the others?" asked Misty.  "They all look exactly the same!"

  "No way!" cried Brock, with a stern voice.  "The Joy in Viridian City has slightly lighter highlights in her hair.  And the Cerulean City Joy smiles way more than her sister in Celadon City, who, I know, has bigger and brighter eyes than any of her family…" he said, his voice going goofy and trailing off, as he gazed into the distance with a funny smile on his face.

  "Snap out of it!" shouted Misty, smacking him over the head with her fist.

  Nurse Joy popped her head round the doorway.  "Do you have anywhere to stay?  I'd like to keep your Pikachu and the other Pokemon here overnight."

  "It's a really clear night.  Why not camp out?" suggested Brock.

  "Fine with me.  How about you, Misty?" asked Ash.

  "We've been camping out for the past week!  Can't we stay indoors for a change?" she moaned.

  "There's only one hotel in this town, and I know for sure that it's full.  I would let you stay here, but it's not really safe," explained the nurse.

  "Not safe?" asked Ash, with a puzzled expression.

  "There's a leak in the ceiling.  See?" she pointed at a small hole above their heads.  "It drips water a lot, and when the floor gets wet, it's very slippery.  A repair man was supposed to come and fix it today, but he never showed up…"  Her sentence trailed away.  She looked confused and a little worried.

  "Well, looks like we'll have to camp out after all.  Don't worry, Nurse Joy, we have everything we need.  We'll be fine," said Ash, grinning at Misty, who was glaring at him.

  "Okay.  I'll see you tomorrow," said Joy, disappearing through the doorway again.

  The three friends were just opening the door when Nurse Joy called out from the treatment rooms.  "Oh, there's another girl who didn't have anywhere to stay.  Would you help her out?"

  Ash, Brock and Misty looked around, but the room was empty.

  "Now that I think about it, there was a girl here when we arrived.  Where'd she go?" Misty wondered, looking at the empty bench thoughtfully.  

  "I don't remember seeing anyone," said Ash.

  "Me neither.  Besides, she couldn't have left without us noticing her," said Brock.

  "Yeah, I guess so…" Misty agreed doubtfully, as they stepped out into the darkness.

They set up camp wearily, under a couple of trees in a field near the town.  They were too tired to bother with cooking any dinner, so they just curled up in their sleeping bags.  Ash was in the middle, with Brock on one side, and Misty on the other.  

  "So are we going to go to the gym tomorrow?" whispered Misty.  Brock was already asleep, but Ash and Misty were having a quick, whispered chat first.

  "Yeah, I guess so.  That's why we're here," Ash whispered back. 

  "I don't see why you want more badges.  You've gone through the Pokemon League."

  "I kind of miss traveling around for badges, challenging gym leaders, everything we used to do.  And I need to keep training, or I'll never be a Pokemon Master."

  "That makes sense.  I want to try and catch some more water Pokemon, since Opal Town is right next to the sea."

  "Why not spend the time training up the ones you've already got?  Like Psyduck: he could use some experience," Ash laughed quietly.

  "That dopey duck will need a hundred years training before it get any kind of sense into it's empty head!" Misty shot back.  They both laughed softly.

  "Hey, I'm kind of tired.  Let's just go to sleep now, okay?" Ash suggested.

  "Sure," agreed Misty.

  "Goodnight then," he said, turning over and shifting in his sleeping bag.

  "Goodnight.  Sweet dreams," she added, in a soft whisper.

              ****


	2. Pokemon Gym Problems

**Chapter Two**

**Pokemon Gym Problems**

Misty was the first to wake up the next morning.  She opened her eyes slowly, and blinked in the watery light of the sun.  She guessed that it was still very early, since the sun was only just rising, and was about to go back to sleep, when she saw something move among the trees, off to her left.  She looked over, just in time to see a shadowy figure disappear into the foliage.  Her curiosity instantly aroused, she got up and walked over to the little copse.  It was empty.  She walked around it, seeing the town and sea beyond it on one side, the meadows on the other.  Convincing herself that she must have been seeing things, she went back to her sleeping bag.  

  As she snuggled back into it, shifting around to find a comfortable position, she found herself face to face with Ash.  He lay asleep, about a metre away, his face relaxed, eyes closed.  She could see his side rise and fall with each breath.  She caught herself smiling a little, and turned over.  She could still hear him breathing.  Tossing and turning didn't help.  Finally, she crept back out of the sleeping bag, with a big sigh, and sat on the soft, squashy cotton, drawing her knees up to her chest and embracing them.  Ash stirred a little, and his eyes opened.

  "Hey, Misty," he yawned.

  "Morning, Ash," she replied.

  "It's not even day yet.  Not really, anyway.  How come you're up already?" he asked, as he stretched, and settled back into his warm, comfy sleeping bag.

  "I just woke up, that's all.  I couldn't get back to sleep."

  "Oh."

  There was a long pause.  A few birds started singing, and a warm, light breeze wafted past.  The light of the sun, as it started its slow climb into the sky, was reflected in the rivers and lakes that lay ahead of Misty.  The brilliance of the light made her squint.  But she smiled.  The sun's rays lit up large areas of countryside, but some parts were left in shadow.  It really was gorgeous.

  "It's so beautiful," she murmured.  "Don't you think so, Ash?" she asked, turning to him.

  He snored.

  "Great.  All you think about is food, Pokemon, and sleep," she complained to herself.

The beach was empty.  It's sands felt cool and hard under Misty's feet, as she wandered along it.  She'd decided to go for a walk, to pass the time until the other two were up.  It was a lovely clear morning.  The only sounds were the gentle rushes of the waves, as they ran up the beach and fell back into the sea, and the soft scuffing of Misty's feet on the sand.  The sun had risen about half an hour before, and there was a lot more light.  However, a mist still lay over the sea.  The sunlight made it bright, but it was a mist, all the same, shrouding in secrecy whatever may have lain across the water.  Misty amused herself by imagining what could be out there.  She studied the slightly darker line that she guessed marked the horizon, looking for any shadow of an object.  She suddenly saw a dark lump.  She guessed that it must be the shadow of an island, or maybe a boat. 

  "Ouch!"  She cried out in pain, as she stepped on something hard and sharp, hopping away to another patch of sand.  She looked down in annoyance to find out what the thing was, and something glittered in the sand.

  "Huh?" she muttered, stooping down to pick it up.  It was some kind of chain, but wet sand was clogged all over it.  Misty went over to the water's edge, and dipped the object in.  When she lifted it into the sunlight, it glimmered with a crystalline light.  It was a necklace, made of a smooth, thin, delicate chain of silver, and a pendant of opal and crystal.  It didn't have any particular shape, but one edge was jagged, as if it was a broken half of an original whole.  Misty studied it, eyebrows furrowed in thought.  She ran her fingers along the chain, found a little catch, and fastened it carefully around her neck.  

  "Hey! Hey, Misty!"

  She jumped, and turned to see who was calling.  Ash and Brock jogged over.

  "We've been looking all over for you!  Why'd you wander off like that?" asked Ash.

  "I was bored, so I just went for a walk," she explained.

  "Oh."

  "Hey, what's that around your neck?" asked Brock, looking at the necklace.

  "Oh, I found it here.  Washed up on shore," said Misty.

  "It might be valuable.  We should check with officer Jenny if it's not lost, with someone looking for it."

  "Good idea.  Let's go find the police station, then," suggested Misty.

"Well, I've had no reports of a lost necklace," said officer Jenny.  The three friends stood in a circle with her, all studying the necklace, which lay in the officer's palm.  They'd found the station really easily: it was right next to the Pokemon Center, where Ash had picked up Pikachu and the other Pokemon.  Officer Jenny asked if the trio were staying in Opal Town long, and when they said that they weren't going for a little while, at least, she gave the chain back to Misty, saying, "Well, you can keep it for now, and if no one claims it before you go, you may as well keep it."

  "Thanks, officer Jenny!" cried Misty, smiling as she fixed the dainty silver around her neck once more.  She'd felt almost like there was a part of her missing when she'd taken it off, and she felt almost safe again once she had it on once more.

  "I might see you, then.  Thank you for coming to the police when you find items like that.  I only wish everyone were as honest as you!" said Jenny.

  "What do you mean?" asked Brock.

  "Well, a couple of thieves broke into the Opal Gym two nights ago.  They stole a Pokemon, all the gym badges, and did a lot of damage to the building as they escaped.  It will be a long time before the gym can get up and running again.  Though they only took one Pokemon, the others disappeared as well.  It seems that they ran away in fear, after the scare of being broken in upon by burglars."

  "That does make sense.  Pokemon get afraid just like any person would if someone broke into their home," Brock commented.

  "There's no Pokemon left in the gym at all now.  It's thought that that's why the gym leader left.  She disappeared unexpectedly, without saying goodbye, or telling anyone where she was going, or anything," explained the officer.

  "Thieves like that are terrible!  I hope they get the punishment they deserve!" cried Brock, echoing officer Jenny's anger.

  "That's the problem: they got away without a trace!  It's very strange.  Almost as if they were just shadows," said Jenny, looking worried.

  "What Pokemon did they take?" asked Ash. 

  "That's the strange part.  The gym leader owns quite a few Pokemon, some really strong ones, but it was a Ditto that was taken.  The leader had only recently got it, from an elderly relative who'd died.  There was no one else who would have it, so she took it in.  It's very skilled at transforming, but very weak at battling.  I just don't understand why the thieves left the other, stronger Pokemon and took that Ditto."

  "That _is weird," muttered Misty to herself._

  "It's not likely that we'll ever catch the thieves now," said officer Jenny, in a sad voice.  "They must be miles away by this time."

  "We'll keep an eye out for them, officer Jenny!  If they're anywhere near, we'll catch them!  We'll work day and night for you!" cried Brock, moving as close as possible to the officer, who was looking a bit nervous, and stepping away.

  "Leave it, Brock!" said Misty, without much energy at all.

   Ash stared at Misty in concern.  She always yelled her head off when Brock went goofy, but she didn't seem bothered at all this time.

  "I'm too tired to be angry," muttered Misty, noticing Ash's expression.  He watched her a little longer, but turned to Brock when he realised that the unfortunate officer needed saving.

  "We'd better go now, Brock," he said, nudging his friend.

  "Huh?  Oh, yeah.  I'm sure we'll see each other again soon, officer Jenny," he said.

  Ash finally managed to drag Brock from the building, and Misty followed close behind. 

   They decided to go for a walk on the beach, after, of course, some lunch.  Ash's stomach sounded like an erupting volcano, as they wandered through the town to a grassy patch, near the beach.  Brock started cooking something that smelled great, while Ash and Misty set out the cloth, plates and cutlery.  They chatted as they set everything out.

  "I can't believe I won't be able to get a gym badge," moaned Ash.  "We took so long getting here."

  "I can't believe someone broke into a Pokemon Gym!  It's so mean to do something like that.  But for the gym leader to just leave, too…" Misty replied.

  "Yeah.  If I had a gym, I'd never leave.  I wouldn't let thieves scare me.  Besides, I wouldn't have let them take my Pokemon in the first place."

  "I know _you wouldn't.  We've battled and beaten Team Rocket hundreds of times before, when they've tried to take Pikachu."_

  "Hey, thinking about it, Jesse and James haven't bothered is in a really long time," said Ash, thoughtfully.

  "Lunch is ready!" called Brock, ending the conversation.  

  "Great!  I'm starving!" cried Ash.

  He leapt to his place, and started stuffing huge mouthfuls in as soon as the food was put in front of him.  Brock ate a little slower, and with much better manners.  But Misty ate just a couple of little mouthfuls before pushing her plate away listlessly.  Ash looked up at her to check that she didn't mind, before he moved on to her lunch, too.  

  "Aren't you hungry, Misty?" asked Brock.

  "Not really.  I don't have the energy," she said with a sigh.

  Ash and Brock exchanged worried looks, unnoticed by Misty, as she gazed at the sky.

  The fresh wind on the beach seemed to revive Misty a little.  The three of them wondered along the sands, chatting and laughing companionably.  Brock and Ash decided to have a Pokemon battle, and Misty watched them quietly from the sidelines.

  "Bulbasaur!  I choose you!" yelled Ash, turning his cap round as he threw the Pokeball into the air.  The grass-type appeared, looking happy to be out of its Pokeball, and ready for battle.  Bulbasaur had always been a competitive fighter.

  "In that case, I choose you, Vulpix!  Go!" shouted Brock, looking more composed than Ash, but equally determined.  The sleek little fox appeared, poised for battle.

  "Bulbasaur!  Tackle attack!" cried Ash.

  "Bulba!" agreed the Pokemon, as it galloped over to Vulpix.  The fire type dodged, leaping into the air.

  "Vulpix!  Ember attack, now!" shouted Brock.

  The little creature opened its mouth and a flame leapt out at Bulbasaur, who didn't move quickly enough, and got singed.  However, it was still ready for more.

  "Okay!  Use your vine whip!"

  "Saur!"  Two powerful vines extended from the bulb on the Pokemon's back, hitting Vulpix with a shocking force.  Vulpix was knocked to the ground, but pushed itself up again, wincing a little.

  "Flame thrower!" yelled Brock, gritting his teeth.

  "Vuuuuul!" cried the little fiery creature, opening its mouth and loosing a stream of fire even more powerful than before.  Bulbasaur managed to jump out of the flame just in time, and, at Ash's command, shot out sharp-edged leaves at Vulpix: razor leaf attack.  This time, Vulpix couldn't get up again.

  "Vulpix!  Return!" cried Brock.

  "Yeah!  I won!  I won!" yelled Ash, jumping up and down, before hugging Bulbasaur, grinning all the while.  

  In the fun of the walk and the battle, the friends had completely lost track of the time.  The sun was already low in the sky by the time the trio reached Opal Town.  Though they were all a little tired, they agreed to visit the Pokemon Gym before dinner.  The gym wasn't too difficult to find.  It was built on a low hill, at the end of Opal town that lay closest to the sea.  It looked pretty normal from a distance, but as they got closer, Ash, Brock and Misty could see that it was really damaged.

  The huge double doors were wide open.  One swung a little in the breeze, but the other's hinges were so broken that it was jarred in place.  The doorway of the gym was a gaping black hole.  The three friends shivered in the cold air that seemed to envelop the ruined building.

  "Hey!  Is anyone here?" called Ash as the group entered.  

  "It looks like it's been this way for years," said Misty, looking around at the damp walls, torn posters and shattered plant pots, their soil spilled across the floor of the reception room.  It was like that in every room.  None of the light switches worked, which left the rooms in a dull, shadowy state.  The stadium was especially creepy.  Most of the windows were cracked and dirty, and the freezing wind blew in with an eerie whistling sound.  The marks of the arena were still clear on the ground, but no one would want to battle in that place.  It was hard for the trio to believe that it had been broken into only two days before.

  Suddenly two shadowy figures appeared at the other side of the hall, silhouetted against the misty moonlight that poured in through the windows.  The strangers laughed, and it wasn't a laugh of joy.

  "Prepare for trouble!" cried a familiar feminine voice.

  "And make it double!" cried another voice, masculine but just as familiar.

  "To protect the world from devastation," said the woman.

  "To unite all people's within our nation," added the man.

  "To denounce the evils of truth and love."

  "To extend our reach to the stars above."

  Two spotlights clicked on, and turned to the two speakers.  

  "Jesse," said the girl, smiling evilly.

  "James," said the other, holding a rose to his smirking lips.

  "Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

  "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

  "Meowth, that's right!" cried a Meowth, jumping to the floor in front of its two companions.

  "Team Rocket!" said Ash angrily, clenching his fist.  "So, it was you who broke in here and took that Ditto.  You're the reason for the Gym Leader's disappearance!  We should have known that only Team Rocket was mean enough to do something like that!"

  The sneaky pair suddenly paused, puzzled expressions crossing their faces.  

  "Huh?  What Ditto?" asked James.

  "Shut up, James!" Jesse ordered her team mate.  "You twerps don't know what you're talking about!" she shouted, turning to the friends.

  "You know exactly what we're talking about!  Destroying a Gym Leader's home and destroying her dreams!  You're disgusting!" cried Brock, in a very angry and very stern voice.

  "Hey!  How dare you call me disgusting!" Jesse yelled back.  "It's time to teach you twerps a lesson!  Go, Arbok!"  She threw a Pokeball, and the snake-like Pokemon appeared, hissing furiously.

  "Go, Victreebell!" called James, releasing his Pokemon.  The huge plant appeared.  It released a high pitched scream as it spun round and grabbed James' head in its mouth.  

  "Mmmphf!  MMMPHFMM!"  James' muffled shrieks were pitiful, as he struggled with his Pokemon, flailing his arms and legs about.

  "Will you train that thing!" yelled Jesse, clenching her fist at her thrashing friend, going red with irritation and embarrassment.  

  "Sad," whispered Misty, her comment going unnoticed by everyone there, it was so quiet.  She sank to the floor with a sigh.

  "Pikachu! Use your thunderbolt!" cried Ash, full of energy.

  "Pi-ka…CHUUUU!" cried the little yellow electric type, as huge bolts of electricity shot from the little red sacs on its cheeks.  Team Rocket shrieked in unison, James, unfortunately, only just emerging from Victreebell's mouth in time to be severely shocked: by Pikachu's thunderbolt!  They fell to the floor in a charred, crumpled heap.

  "So…will you confess?" demanded Ash, walking over to his enemies, and placing a trainer-clad foot on Meowth's head.  

  "Confess to WHAT?" shouted Jesse with extreme annoyance, sitting up and rubbing her aching head.  She glared at Ash accusingly. 

  "To breaking into this gym!" cried Ash, losing his patience with Team Rocket's continuous denials.

  "This was a gym?" James asked, of no one in particular, looking around the hall with a bewildered expression.

  "Yes!" yelled Ash, losing his temper.

  "Hey, don't rip your hair out over it!" said Meowth, pulling himself away from Ash's foot.  "So, what your saying is, this gym was broken into?"

  "Yes," nodded Ash and Brock together.

  "And what we're saying is: we didn't do it!" cried Meowth.

  "Huh?" 

  "WE…DIDN'T…DO IT!"

  "Okay, okay, you've made your point.  Now get lost!" commanded Ash, pointing to the doorway.

  "We're not leaving until we've got that Pikachu," replied Jesse.  "Arbok!  Poison sting attack!"  

  "Charrr-bok!" hissed the Pokemon, going in for the attack.  

  "Pikachu!  Thunder!" yelled Ash.

  "Pi-pi-ka-CHU!" The force of the hit sent Team Rocket crashing through the already broken windows.

  "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" shrieked the evildoers as they disappeared out the window.

  "I'm glad they're gone!" said Ash with a sigh.

  "Me, too." agreed Brock.  "But if they didn't break into this gym, who did?"

  The two friends looked at each other, both hoping that the other had the answer.  

  Ash suddenly realised something.  "Where's Misty?"

  They looked around, and finally Ash spotted a curled up figure, hidden in a shadowy corner.  He cried out her name as he ran over to her.

  "Misty!"  The shock of seeing Misty like that threw him into a daze.  He stared numbly at his friend, his mind blank.

  Brock ran over and looked at the young girl's expressionless face.  He felt at her wrist for a heartbeat.  "She's unconscious," he stated, carefully lifting her into his arms.  She needed help, and fast.  They walked through the halls and rooms quickly, Ash barely keeping up, wandering along in a shocked silence.  They soon reached the main entrance.  It was pouring with rain outside.  The clouds had built up thick and fast, and now they flashed and rumbled with thunder and lightning.  The buildings of the town were shadowy clumps of blackness, some three hundred metres away.  The rain that soaked both the buildings and the road glinted suddenly in the split second of another flash of lightning.  

  "We need to get her to the hospital," cried Brock, raising his voice over the noise of the weather outside.  "We have to run."  He followed up his decision by taking off into the storm.

  Ash paused before he ran after Brock.  He paused long enough to whisper a single word. 

  "Misty…"


	3. Nightmares

**Chapter Three**

**Nightmares**

  All was quiet in the waiting room of the hospital.  Misty had been taken away on a theatre trolley, accompanied by a doctor and a nurse.  Ash and Brock had been told to wait until the check-up was done, and there was any news to give.  They had long wait.  

  "Do you think it had anything to do with her being so tired?" asked Ash.

  "Definitely.  She's always had lots of energy, and she never seems to get sick.  Now, all of a sudden, she gets really tired, and then collapses.  There has to be a connection," replied Brock, his brow furrowed in thought.  The two stayed mostly silent after that.  There really wasn't anything to talk about.  They were both too upset and worried about Misty to feel like conversation.  All Ash could think about was how he'd felt when he'd noticed her absence.  All he could see was her pale, expressionless face.  Silence filled the room, pressing against his ears until he just couldn't stand it any longer.  

  He sat up on the bench, and turned to Brock.  Before he even opened his mouth, he realised there was no point in starting a conversation: Brock was asleep.  Ash sighed miserably.  At least the faint sound of his sigh made the silence a little less awful.  He stared out of the window, listening as the rain started up again.  The wind threw the rain at the full-length windows, ending the silence with its gentle pattering sound.  The pattering soon grew to beating, then pounding, as the storm swung into full force.  Unlike the earlier storm, all was dark: the flash of lightning was gone, along with the rumbling thunder.  The outside was cloaked in shadow.  Ash couldn't even see the shop across the street in the darkness.  He squinted, trying to at least make out its outline.  That was when he saw the stranger.

  A small, slender person, watching him.  It stood, a dark and faint silhouette, in the empty road.  Ash ran quickly to the door, staring through the glass, and pushed it open.  Before he had time to get outside, the person ran, a shadow melting away into the night.  Ash didn't try to give chase.  Who ever it was didn't want to be seen.  Or known.  And he had no idea if they were even there to see him.  He found himself stepping out into the darkness anyway.

  Ash didn't want to go back to the bleak, silent waiting room.  He didn't want to wait there, with that feeling of dread gnawing him away from the inside.  There was something else, something more.  It wasn't just Misty feeling sick. There was another problem, but it was more than a problem.  It was a darkness, looming over everything that had happened in the last couple of days.  It wasn't easy to forget the weird dreams he'd been having.  Every night for the past week.  Dreams of strange places, and strange people, and a shadow…

  Ash couldn't go back to that waiting room.  He couldn't stand it any more.  He couldn't stand the bare, pale yellow walls, or the white ceiling, or the endless waiting, waiting, for someone to tell you what was happening, or the knowing that Misty was really sick, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

  "Misty! What's happening to you?  What's behind all of this?  Why doesn't it make sense?" he cried out at the darkness.  "Who's doing this?" he asked.  There was no answer.  The rain had already soaked him, and he shut his eyes against the drops that hit him, as he tilted his face to the heavy, threatening clouds overhead.  He hoped that if he shut his eyes tight enough, all the bad feelings might go away.

  "Ash! Ash, what are you doing?  Come in quick!  You're getting soaked!" yelled Brock, above the noise of the rain.  Ash turned his head slowly to his friend, who stood in the doorway of the hospital.  The look in Ash's eyes was out of focus and dull with hopelessness.

  "Come on!" cried Brock again, running over and tugging at his friend's arm, gradually pulling him back inside the hospital.  "The nurse has news on Misty!" Ash finally seemed to get a little closer to reality, focusing piercingly on Brock's face.  His large dark eyes demanded knowledge.

  The nurse approached quietly.  "Misty's fine now.  She's woken up, and looks okay.  But she's still very weak.  She fainted from sheer lack of energy.  It's very strange indeed.  Did she say anything about being tired, or anything like that, before she fainted?"

  "Yeah, she was complaining about being really tired, and not having enough energy to eat," said Ash, slowly.  

  "When did she start saying that?  Was she acting strange before she said any of those things?" asked the nurse in a gentle voice.

  "Well, she normally shouts when Brock… she normally shouts at Brock a lot.  And she talks a lot.  But she barely even said a word today-"

  "Today?" cried the nurse, cutting off Ash's sentence.

  "Yeah, this morning," Brock agreed.  

  "This has all happened in _one_ _day?"  She was clearly very surprised and worried._

  "Yes," Brock repeated.

  "This is more serious than I thought," muttered the nurse with a frown, studying at the clipboard in her hand.

  "Why?  How does the fact that it happened in one day make such a big difference?" demanded Ash.

  "Normally, something like this is caused by lack of food, or over-exercising.  Those things take a long time to have this serious an effect," said the nurse, in a voice that asked if that could be what had happened to Misty.

  "Well, she was eating fine yesterday, and we've been doing a lot of walking, but nothing too hard for me or Ash to do with any trouble," Brock offered.

  "Well, I'll have to run some tests, to try to figure out exactly what has happened here.  Misty will be here for tonight, at least."

  "Can we see her?" asked Ash.

  "She's very tired.  I don't know if she's up to seeing any visitors yet," reasoned the nurse.

  "We're not visitors.  We're her best friends.  I have to see her," Ash insisted.  "We don't have to talk to her, just see her."

  "Well…"  The young woman was still undecided. 

  "Please," pleaded Ash.  There was an uncertain pause.

  "OK.  You _are her best friends.  And she has been asking to see you."_

  "Great!  Where is she?" Ash asked, getting a little excited.

  "Calm down!  Too much excitement won't help.  I'll take you," she added, in a friendlier tone, as she led the way along the cool, empty corridors.

  "Ash?  Brock!" cried Misty weakly, as her friends entered the room, Brock closing the door quietly behind him.

  "It's okay, we're here now," said Ash, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

  "I remember the nurse telling me that you wouldn't be allowed to come…" wondered Misty, in a whispering voice.

  "We'd never let you lie here all alone," said Brock.  Misty smiled a little.

  "So what is it?  What's happening to me?" she asked.

  "We don't know.  The nurse said she was going to run some tests on you to find out.  I'm sure it's nothing serious," added Ash quickly, seeing the look of fear cross his friend's pale face.

  "You'll be up and about in no time, and yelling at Ash more than ever before!" encouraged Brock with a smile.

  "And smacking Brock over the head when he acts dumb," chuckled Ash, with a mischievous grin.  Misty laughed, but her laughter ended in a cough, and a long-drawn breath.  Her two friends looked at her quickly, their concern showing plainly in their faces.  

  Misty waved them away with a hand, whilst covering her mouth with the other.  "It's okay…I'm okay," she whispered.  

  The nurse suddenly reappeared in the doorway, hands on hips.  "I think it's time you left.  Making her laugh is making her cough.  She doesn't need that right now," she commanded, in a stern voice that allowed no opposition.

  Brock moved to the door, smiling warmly at Misty as he left, just behind the nurse.  Ash got up from his perch on the edge of the bed, and took a step to the corridor.

  "Ash," cried Misty in a hoarse whisper.  He turned back and was standing by her in an instant.

  "Ash.  You saved me."

  "So did Brock," he protested.

  "You'll look after me, won't you?  There's something else.  Something awful.  What's happening, Ash?  Why is this happening?" she asked, in a scared voice.

  Ash started, eyes wide.  She had echoed almost exactly the words he'd cried out in the rain outside, just a little while ago.  "You…You can feel it, too?  I thought I was just…worrying too much.  I don't know what's happening.  But I'll find out.  Whatever is doing this, I'll stop it.  I promise," he said, with an earnest voice, placing a hand lightly on the frightened girl's shoulder.  She looked into his eyes with an expression that forced him to look at the ground, with a red face.

  "Come see me tomorrow," pleaded Misty.  "I don't want to be alone.  I'm so scared, Ash," she whimpered, shivering with the cold feeling inside her.  Ash squeezed her shoulder gently, a comforting touch that made Misty look up at her friend in surprise.  He met her gaze for a moment, before leaving the room hastily.  Misty sighed as she heard his footsteps die away, letting out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

   Ash walked slowly along the rocky cliff-edge.  The waves crashed violently against the foot of the sheer drop, angrily beating over and over.  The boy was lost in thought.  Disturbed, worried thoughts.  Around him, scenery lay in secrecy.  Everything was shrouded in a mist, it's opaline tendrils curling and reaching across the ground like fingers.  Then a dark person appeared through the fog.  Man or woman, boy or girl, he couldn't tell.  It didn't speak.  It didn't move.  Suddenly a deathly coldness touched Ash.  It wasn't any kind of breeze, it wasn't rain.  It was simply a coldness, a terrible, sharp coldness.  Ash froze, too terrified to even shiver with the cutting ache of that cold.  The figure stood, watching him, an icy, intense gaze fixed on Ash's face.

  "Who are you?" yelled Ash, over the howling wind that suddenly rose, whipping his jacket around his body, and stinging his pale cheeks.  The person didn't reply.  But it responded.  It grew.  It grew taller and taller, bigger and bigger, until it was a giant.  Black, threatening clouds billowed and swelled up behind the giant, flashing with lightning, rumbling with great rolls of thunder.

  "WHO ARE YOU?" Ash shouted again, terrified and furious at the same time.  Suddenly an image flickered into his mind.  A huge laboratory, filled with racks of test tubes and experiments.  All the glass glinted in the light of the candles that stood in huge numbers around the work-tops, though, somehow, there were still shadows reaching from every corner, every direction.  A person leant over a desk at the other end of the room.  It sat still, cloaked in darkness.  Yet the darkness was not thrown _on the figure.  It came __from it, and Ash felt that darkness to be something in itself, a separate being of it's own.  But Ash didn't have time to think about that.  He didn't have time to search for any meaning behind the feelings that grew inside at what he saw.  The image flashed in and out of Ash's brain in a split second.  Then another image appeared.  A girl ran along a cliff edge, her long black hair streaming out behind her in the raging wind.  She ran with one hand clutched on her heart, one stretched out in front, as if reaching for something.  Her face was filled with fear and sadness, as her bright blue eyes were filled with tears.  Her emotion transferred directly to Ash, filling him until he was overwhelmed with the hopelessness and heartache of the girl.  She staggered in her struggling strides, but ran on all the same, her gaze fixed desperately on some point far off in the distance.  Her lips parted to let out a silent cry, neither sound nor echo piercing the silence of Ash's vision.  The image flicked away again.  Yet another appeared.  Misty sat in a boat, tossed on violent waves, menacing and foam-capped.  She clung desperately to the sides of the little boat, and tears streamed down her face.  But she was not alone.  A shadowy figure was in the boat with her.  They were not far from the shore, but the ferocious waves pulled them further and further away with terrifying speed.  Suddenly a huge wave hit into the boat, and Ash saw the expression on Misty's face as the force took it's toll, despite her frantic movements to get a better hold on the side of the little vessel.  What happened next struck fear into Ash's heart as nothing else ever had.  _

  That image was not completely silent.  Not completely.  Ash heard Misty's scream.

  "Misty!" he cried out desperately.  But something tugged at him from another place.  His focus on the boat and the waves wavered, fuzzed…  

  "Ash!  Ash!  Wake up!"  A voice finally broke clearly into the terror of Ash's nightmare.  The vision fled as his eyes flicked open, and he sat up, breathing quickly.  His eyes darted around the familiar waiting room of the hospital, and relief flooded him.  The nurse peered into his face anxiously.  

  "Are you okay?" she asked.  Ash nodded shortly.

  "Something awful has happened!" cried the nurse, a frightening expression in her eyes.  Ash's relief left him as suddenly as it had come, disappearing at the nurse's anxiety.

  "What?  What's happened?" demanded Ash, grabbing the woman's wrist, infected by her urgency.

  "It's Misty.  She's…She's…"

  "WHAT?"

  The nurse finally stammered it out.  "Misty's gone."


	4. Mist and Shadows

**Chapter Four**

**Mist and Shadows**

  "What do you mean, she's gone?" exclaimed Ash.  His cry broke the silence that had followed the nurse's outburst.  Ash had stared at her in shock, before her words had sunk in enough for him to react.  "What do you mean?" he repeated, still with a raised voice.

  "What happened?" asked Brock, in a steadier voice, shooting at Ash a look that demanded self-control.  Ash's shoulder's slumped.  _Brock's right, he thought__.  Whatever has happened, it's not the nurse's fault.  She's obviously as shocked by it as us.  _

  "I checked on her at about eleven last night, about an hour after you'd come back to this room to stay for the night.  She was asleep then, and her condition was pretty stable.  I left quietly, so that I wouldn't wake her up.  When I went back this morning, to see if she was awake yet, she was gone."  She was obviously distressed.

  "When did you check on her?" asked Brock.

  "At around nine," replied the poor nurse.

  "What was the room like?  Was the window open, or anything?" asked Ash.

  "No, the window was shut.  So was the door.  Nothing in the room had been touched.  And the bedcovers were still tucked in around all three edges, so, unless she pulled herself up onto the pillow, and then got off the bed without making any impressions on the covers, I can't think how she left!"

  "Show me," said Ash.  It wasn't a request.

  When they got to Misty's room, it was just as the nurse had said.  

  "It's almost like she just disappeared where she was," Ash said, the puzzlement clear in his voice.

  "Pika-pi-pikachu," added Pikachu, in an equally uncertain tone.

  "Morning nurse, Brock, Ash," greeted officer Jenny gravely, as she entered the room.  

  "Oh, I'm so glad you're here," breathed the nurse, sighing with relief.

  "So your friend Misty has gone?" asked Jenny, getting straight down to business.

  Ash and Brock nodded in unison.

  "Could she have run away?  Have you had any arguments recently?" 

  "No, we haven't argued at all.  Besides, she's too weak to run away," replied Ash.

  "Yes, I'm very worried.  She was not in a very good state when she arrived here last night, and her condition was not entirely stable," broke in the nurse, very anxiously indeed.

  "So if she was so ill, how did she manage to leave: and without any signs of her exit, either?" puzzled officer Jenny, glancing around the room, taking in the situation quickly.

  "We don't know.  That's why I phoned you straight away," said the nurse.

  "It's a good thing you did," said the officer.  "Something very strange is going on around here, and I intend to find out what it is."

  "So do I," said Ash, taking a step forward and raising a clenched fist.  "So do I."

  It was late in the day.  No progress had been made.  There was no sign of Misty anywhere.  It was as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth.  Ash and Brock were both very worried.  They knew how sick she was, and there was no way she'd be able to go far with the little energy she'd had left.  

  The sun was setting as Ash wandered along the beach.  Brock had gone with officer Jenny.  For once it hadn't been because he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.  It was because Jenny asked one of the two friends to go with her, to help her think of why and where Misty had gone, and hopefully track her down.  Ash and Pikachu had gone off on their own because the more places that were searched, the more likely that Misty would be found soon.

  "Where are you, Misty?" Ash asked the blazing horizon.  The colours of the sunset were bright and beautiful, but they didn't have any answers.  "Why did you leave?  What did I do wrong?"  

  Pikachu looked up at his friend with concern, the bright black eyes shining.

  Ash's heavy-rimmed eyes restlessly scanned the sea-sky horizon, but there was nothing there.  Nothing at all.  The mist still hung a little over the ocean, shimmering faintly with it's strange, opaline light.  It was a lot thinner than in the morning.  

  Brock and Officer Jenny walked up beside him.  Ash didn't even turn his head.  "Why is there always mist over the sea?" he asked, in a dull voice.

  "I don't really know.  I don't think anyone does," replied the officer.  "That's what gave the town and the bay their names.  Opal Town and Opal Bay.  See the way the mist shines like it's made of opal?"  The four of them looked at it for a long time, silence settling over them.  Ash blinked hard, fighting the salty water that rose in his eyes, blinding him.  He brushed his sleeve harshly across his eyes, hoping that no one had seen.  At least no one could see it when you had a lump in your throat.  _A lump so big that I just want to choke, thought Ash, swallowing as hard as he could, though it made no difference.  No difference at all.  __Misty, where are you?  _

  "Where am I?" mumbled Misty, as she sat up slowly, rubbing her head.  It ached furiously.  She grimaced at the pain, as it came flooding back as she awoke.  Her grumbling helped about as much as the grimace.

  She looked around, slowly, taking in her surroundings carefully.  She could hear waves, which meant that she was near the sea.  And there were some trees nearby.  But there was something very strange.  She couldn't quite put her finger on it, though.  As she tried to puzzle it out, a figure emerged from the trees.  Fear crossed Misty's face, and she crawled backwards on all fours, scrambling away from the approaching person.  As it came out from beneath the trees, and light fell across it, Misty could see that it was a boy.  He looked like he was somewhere between Ash and Brock in age, but he looked totally different from them.

  His black hair was quite short, and straight, some of it flopping in his face, across his brow, throwing shadow into his eyes.  Those eyes were deep, sparkling, secretive.  Misty had no idea what the secret behind those eyes could be, and she could not see the colour of them as they flashed beneath the shiny black hair.  His deep blue velvet suit was spotless, as was the white lab coat worn over it, unfastened and flapping slightly in the breeze.  He approached, never pausing in his stride, and she saw that he was tall as Brock, maybe even taller.  He held out a hand to her.

  She hesitated.

  "Don't be afraid of me.  I'm here to help you," he said, and though his voice was as smooth as silk, she thought there was a colder edge there.  Nevertheless, she took his hand, and pulled herself to her feet.  At the touch, Misty's pain suddenly disappeared.  _Why?  How…?  How did that happen? And why is he prepared to help someone he's never met before?  How did he know I was right here?  The questions streamed into Misty's mind, as she looked at the stranger, who hadn't let go of her hand.  _

  "My name is Simon," he said, in that velvety voice, as he bowed to her.  He raised her hand to his lips with a kiss, then released her.

  "I…I'm…My name is Misty," she stammered.  Simon smiled at her, but it was a strange smile, lacking warmth, but not cold either.  She knew there was something out of the ordinary about him, but, as with the strangeness of her surroundings, she couldn't figure out what it was.  

  "Misty…A beautiful name," he commented, almost to himself.  Then his intense gaze fixed on her again.  "Come, I will take you to the house."  He gestured to something behind him, though it was hidden in the mist.  They walked in silence.  _He hasn't even asked how I got here, or where I came from, Misty thought, feeling uneasy.  __Not that I__ know how I got here.  _

  Double doors loomed suddenly from the fog.  Simon opened them, and stepped inside, into a large and very tall room.  

  Blue carpet, the same shade as Simon's suit, softened the floor.  Corridors stretched off on either side, doors all along their walls.  The walls were papered with a lovely creamy colour, which gleamed softly in the light from the lamps along the walls.  But most of the light came from the chandelier overhead, which glittered with crystals.  But Misty didn't notice any of it, not at first.  She saw the staircase, nearly as wide as the room, leading to gallery landings that ran along the walls all around, up above.  A little statue stood on a column at the top of the staircase, carved from white marble.  It seemed to gather light from all around itself, and glowed with a muted brilliance.

  "Go on, take a closer look," said Simon, though his tone neither encouraged nor discouraged.  Misty didn't stop to wonder how he'd known what she was thinking.  She walked up the steps, and halted a foot or so away from the little shining statue.  It was of some kind of creature, with large eyes, short, pointed ears, a small, compact body, and a long, curving tail.  "What is it?" asked Misty, fascinated by the little creature.  

  "It is the most rare Pokemon there ever was.  No one knows what type it is, or where it came from.  It is a mystery.  Very few have ever seen it."  Simon's voice came from just behind her, but Misty hadn't heard any of his steps.

  "What's it called?" Misty wondered, walking around the statue, unable to take her eyes from it.

  "It is called Mew."

  "Do you think we'll ever find her?" said Ash, in a dull voice.

  "Of course we will.  It's not like she's disappeared off the face of the Earth," Brock protested from his sleeping bag a couple of metres away.  The look Ash shot at him indicated that he considered it a possibility.  

  "Don't be silly," Brock said.

  "Well, we've been hunting around all day, and found no trace of her."

  "That doesn't mean we won't find her tomorrow."

  "It's so strange not having her around."

  "I know what you mean.  I even miss the way she smacked me over the head whenever I saw officer Jenny or nurse Joy."

  "I miss her, too," Ash added, wistfully.  Brock stared at him suddenly.

  "Just how much?" he prompted.  Ash wasn't about to be caught.  He just shrugged, avoiding the question.  

  "I just miss her."

  Simon had showed her to a room upstairs.  It led off through a door along the gallery landing.  The room was spacious, and as elegantly decorated as the rest of the house, in cream and deep blue.  A four poster bed stood in the corner, silky cream muslin hanging from it.  A table and mirror stood against the wall, and a cushioned stool was placed in front of it.  A side door led to Misty's own bathroom.  It was all in an old style, like something from the Victorians.  The most wonderful thing about her room was the balcony that opened from full height glass doors. Misty was enchanted by everything, and even more surprised and delighted when she peeked into her wardrobe.  It was full of old style dresses, all in shades of blue and cream.  Only the dresses weren't old.  They looked like they'd never been worn. 

  Misty remembered what Simon had said.  'Dinner will be at eight o'clock.  I will come to your room then to show you to the dining room.'  Misty realised, as she looked in the mirror, that she wasn't exactly dressed for dinner.  Her clothes were all dirty and scuffed, and there were muddy marks on her face.  _My hair could do with a brush, too, she thought to herself.  She glanced at the clock.  She had a whole hour until dinner.  A bath sounded really good just then.  _

  Simon entered his room silently.  He crossed the room to the glass doors, and stepped out on to the balcony.  He breathed in slowly, savouring the fresh air, smelling the traces of salt from the ocean.  Stars were already coming out in the twilight sky.  He gazed up at them thoughtfully.  

  "She's perfect," he murmured to himself.  "Now, finally, my work can be completed."  He reached under his collar, and pulled out a thick silver chain.  A pendant hung from it, the broken half of a whole.  "I knew you would find the right one."  He smiled slightly, as he touched the pendant lightly with his finger.  The opals and crystals gleamed softly beneath his touch.

  "Wow!" Misty smiled as she turned in front of the mirror.  The dress was amazing, and it looked really nice with her necklace, which shone in the light of the little chandelier above.  It also made her ginger hair look even brighter than it usually did.  For once, she had her hair out of its usual ponytail, and she'd fastened it up on one side with a pretty clasp that had been lying on the table.  "It's so much fun to wear things like this!  If only Brock and Ash could see me now!"  At the memory of her friends, a pang of sadness washed over her.  "They must be so worried.  I shouldn't be hanging around here like this.  I wonder where they are?  They can't be far away.  I'll ask Simon if he can help me find them."

  A single knock came from the door.  She walked over, her dress rustling, and opened it.  Simon bowed to her.  "Good evening.  Please allow me the honour of escorting you to dinner," he said, looking her up and down quickly.  He took her arm in his own, and led her down the stairs to the hall.  From there, he took her down one of the corridors and through a door.  The dining hall was huge.  A long table stretched almost the entire length of the room, but only two places were set.  Simon seated Misty in the chair to the side of his won, which was at the head of the table.  A maid entered, carrying a tray.  She set it down on the table, curtseyed to Simon, and left.  

  The food was lovely, and, with her first bite, Misty realised how hungry she was.  She remembered being tired before, and not wanting to eat, but that was all a memory, a hazy memory.  

  "I hope this is to your taste," Simon inquired, part way through the meal.

  "Oh, yes, it's lovely," Misty replied, smiling.  Simon smiled back, but it was that same smile as before, neither warm nor cold.

  "I had hoped my sister would join me for this momentous occasion.  Unfortunately, she travels often, and I can never be entirely sure of her whereabouts," apologised Simon.

  "Oh!  You have a sister!  I'd love to meet her!" cried Misty, enthusiastically.  "If she's anything like you, she must be really nice!"  Suddenly she realised what she'd said, and looked hastily down at her plate, trying to hide her confused blush.  She didn't see Simon's smile.

  The meal finished in silence.  When everything had been taken away again, Simon stood, and took Misty's hand.  

  "Would you walk with me in the gardens?" he asked.

  "Yes, I'd love to," she replied, a little too hastily.  

  The garden was beautiful.  There were lots of trees, and pretty flowers, though it wasn't all that visible in the muted light of the moon.  The couple strolled about, Misty admiring the view, the plants, the stars, anything and everything.  Simon listened in silence.  Finally, Misty brought herself to ask the question she'd been thinking of all evening.

  "This is a lovely place, and it was wonderful to meet you.  I can't thank you enough for your help.  But I have two friends that I really must find.  They are probably very worried about me by now."

  "Of course.  I will help you tomorrow, as soon as you are ready.  It is, obviously, too late to do anything today.  What are your friend's names?"

  "Brock and…and Ash," Misty replied, stumbling over Ash's name.  Simon noticed it, and frowned a little.  

  "You are very good friends with Ash?" he asked.

  "Yes.  I've known him for more than a year.  We've been traveling around, Ash, Brock and me, all over the place.  Ash has been winning gym badges, and competing in the Pokemon League.  He'll be a Pokemon Master one day.  Brock wants to be the world's greatest Pokemon breeder."

  "And you?"

  "Me?  I want to be the greatest water Pokemon trainer of all time!"

  "I am certain you will be.  You have the determination needed."

  "Thank you."  Misty blushed a little, and was relieved that it was dark so he wouldn't notice.  "Do you have any dreams for the future?" she asked, after slight pause.

  "Yes, I do.  I am a scientist, and I study Pokemon, the way they learn their battle techniques, and how they use their power."

  "Really?  That's amazing!"  Simon glanced round sharply at Misty when she spoke.  "No, really, I think that's really cool.  You must be really talented and clever to be able to do that," insisted Misty, earnestly.  Simon seemed almost relieved.  Almost.  And in a sudden flash of realisation, Misty knew what was strange about Simon.  _He doesn't seem to have any emotion at all…  He's not happy, and not sad.  Or angry, or relieved.  He's emotionless!  Misty's thoughts raced with the idea.  A person without any emotion was something hard to comprehend.  She was pulled back into reality when Simon spoke._

  "I've been working on my research for many years.  My parents died quite a while ago, and they left the house and lab to me.  The whole island, in fact, was theirs, and is now mine," explained Simon.

  "Island?"  Misty's surprise was obvious.

  "Yes, this is an island."

   _Something really weird is going on here, and I'm going to find out what it is.  A boy without feelings, not knowing where my friends are, and this whole incredible situation, Misty thought.  __I mean, if this is an island, how on earth did I get here?_


	5. Power

**Chapter Five**

**Power**

  Misty woke as the sunlight streamed through her window onto her face.  Birds were singing outside, the sky was clear and blue, and there was the slightest breeze, just enough to be refreshing in the warmth of the morning.  Misty sat up, blinking as her sleepy eyes adjusted to the light, and stretched.  She smiled to herself as she remembered where she was.  _Simon, she thought, remembering him with happiness.  The expression on her face became brighter still as she thought of that name.  __He was so sweet.  Then a frown crossed her face.  __There was something else…Something important.  What was it?  A person…No, two people.  I know them.  Or knew them.  They're far away…I need to find them.  Misty struggled to remember.  __Names…Their names…Tall, brown hair…Shorter, with black hair.  What was his name?  'A'.  It began with an…'A'…  Misty screwed up her nose in concentration.  Finally she remembered.  __Ash!  That was it! _

  Having remembered the name, she was satisfied that she'd thought about everything she'd wanted to, and got up.  "Now I can think about more important things!  After all, it's time to explore this place properly!"

  The grass in the garden still glinted with dew, which dripped in little sparkling showers as Misty walked through it.  She smiled as she walked, looking all around at the lovely plants and flowers in the gorgeous morning light.  The blue sky stretched on forever, not a cloud in sight.  The trees slowly passed her, and then disappeared behind.  She'd reached a clearing.  A familiar clearing.  There was the sound of breaking waves.  And mist lay all around.  It was so familiar...  A memory flicked through her mind.  And feelings.  Pain.  Loneliness.  Darkness, and a stranger. 

  The flashback was gone before Misty could even blink.  She wondered if it had ever happened, and was about to forget about it when she felt something else.  The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.  Shivers ran up and down her spine.  She knew that feeling.  She was being watched.  

  She turned warily around, but there was no one there.  When she had managed to convince herself she was being silly, and that there was nobody nearby, she turned back to the sound of the waves.  And a person was standing within a foot of her.

  Misty jumped, and cried out in fright, lashing out at the person.  Her wrist was caught in a firm but gentle grasp.  

  "Hey, Misty, it's me, Simon!"

  "Huh?  Oh, Simon!" she cried, going from a frightened pale to an embarrassed red.  "I didn't recognize you…"

  "Obviously not."  His eyes sparkled.  _Is that just the sunlight, or are his eyes sparkling with laughter?  No, it must be the light.  He doesn't feel happiness.  He doesn't feel anything._

  "I want to show you something.  I need to explain… some things," he went on.

  "What things?  Weren't we going to do something this morning?  Something…important?"  Misty asked.  She was prompting Simon to give her the answer she couldn't quite remember.

  Simon looked at her.  _Is she ready yet?  He seemed to make a decision.  "Yes."  He breathed in slowly, then his eyes fixed in some resolution.   "I was going to show you my laboratory."_

  "I thought we were going to…look for something?  Or someone?"  Misty struggled to remember.

  "I'm not sure I understand.  We decided to look at my lab, last night, at dinner?"  Simon's expression asked if Misty was confused about something. 

  She frowned.  "Yeah, I'm sorry.  You're right.  The lab.  Let's go," she mumbled, following Simon through the trees, her brow furrowed in thought.  _It began with an 'A'…  _

  The laboratory was immense, with many other doors leading to testing rooms, storerooms, and such like.  The tables were littered with test tubes, only they were all in order, all had clip boards with them, obviously each some part of a particular experiment.  It was all out of Misty's league.  As Simon lead her around the room, she tried to follow what he was saying.

  "This is my lab.  It's where I spend most of my time, conducting experiments with my equipment that I've acquired over the years.  Each experiment is recorded and filed for future reference.  I keep my files in that room," he pointed out, as they walked past a door with 'Filing Room' on its little sign.

  "Is it just you?  You don't have anyone who helps you?" asked Misty, trying to take in all the information. 

  "Yes and no.  Aside from the servants, who are hardly companions, I have only my sister for company.  However, she is rarely here, as I mentioned before, and has very little notion or understanding of science."  Simon stopped in his tracks.  He was stood in front of a wall, blank and empty except for a photograph that hung in a frame.  It was in black and white.  A family of four was in it.  A pretty lady was sat with a little girl on her lap.  The father stood behind the boy, a hand on his shoulder.  The boy looked familiar to Misty.  Then her attention was caught back to Simon.

  "I must now reveal a great secret to you, and you must understand I give it to you in confidence.  I wished to show you my lab," a glimmer of pride came into his voice and face.  "However, I feel we must visit my chambers for this discussion.  This is information I wish for you, and you only, to hear."

  Simon led her from the lab, up the stairs, and along the hall to his room.  They entered quietly, and Simon closed the door softly behind them, locking it equally silently.  Misty looked at him questioningly when he did that.

  "It is necessary, unfortunately.  I can't risk another person, or Pokemon, for that matter, hearing in on us.  

  "Well, now to tell you this secret.

  "You are aware that my tests and experiments are related to Pokemon, tests that I hope will one day discover how to contain and enhance the power that Pokemon hold within themselves, power that most Pokemon are utterly unaware that they have.  I believe I am the only human, now that my father has died, who knows of it.  I am certainly the only human currently conducting experiments connected with this information.  

  "Last year, I came very close to discovering and solving this great mystery.  I had, in my possession, four Pokemon: a Zapdos, an Articuno, a Moltres and an Arcanine."

  "Those are the rarest Pokemon there are!  How did you catch them all?" exclaimed Misty.

  "I had the help of my sister at that time, though she no longer assists me in my work.  So, these four Pokemon had a great deal of this power I speak of, as their roots go back to the very beginning of time.  However, my experiments proved that their power could neither be obtained nor enhanced.  I realised that I needed a yet more powerful Pokemon, so that I could discover the method, and once discovered, I could refine it so as to be able to draw out the shallower power of other Pokemon."

  "But there's no Pokemon more powerful than any of the ones you had," said Misty.

  "I am afraid I must correct you.  There is a Pokemon that has more of the power than all of those Pokemon put together.  

  "After my failures of last year, I realised this, and set to researching in old books and texts, and that was when I discovered the information I needed."  Simon stepped over to a nearby bookcase.  He ran his finger along the spines of the books, until he reached the one he searched for, and lifted it from its place.    

  "You may guess that, being a scientist, I am very skeptical of things along the lines of prophecies, ancient scriptural writings and strange, perhaps magical powers.  However, I was forced to accept one ancient writing."  He crossed the room, and placed the book, open, on the desk that stood there.  Misty stepped across to stand over the old, yellowed pages, her eyes flicking over the paragraphs and diagrams scrawled there, words of a language she had no hope of understanding.  Simon continued to tell his story, his voice just over Misty's shoulder.  "It talked of an ancient Pokemon, perhaps the first Pokemon to have ever lived and breathed.  The writings told of a great power that the Pokemon possessed, a power that could be controlled and used.  That is exactly what I wished to do, so I was forced to take the manuscript seriously."  Misty turned the page, and a picture on the new side grabbed her attention.  It was of a triangle.  At the top, there was a strange creature, one that Misty didn't recognize at all.  Two wavy lines linked it to two circles, which were linked by another wavy line.  One of the circles had a swirl inside it.  The other had three jagged lines, one long, with two short ones on either side of it.  As Misty bent her head to look closer, Simon continued.

  "It mentioned that, as humans are meant to live in harmony with all Pokemon, they are needed to draw out this power.  Balance is also essential for the process; hence both a male and a female are necessary.  That's what those two circles represent," he added, pointing at the diagram Misty was looking at.  He didn't pause in his tale.  

  "I thought my sister would serve adequately as the female element, but it became apparent that she had only the faintest glimmer of this power within her, and no notion of how to use it.  When I reexamined the book, I found enclosed a jewel-encrusted pendant.  However, the pendant was broken in half, and each half was affixed to it's own chain.  One chain was thick, heavily made.  The other was thin and dainty.  That was when it became apparent that they represented the male and female elements."

  A chilling tingle ran up and down Misty's spine.  _My necklace that I found…  She touched it, twisting it between her fingers without even realising that she was doing it._

  "Yes!" cried Simon, seeing her reflexive action.  "Yes!  That is one of the necklaces!"  He smiled for a while, and then became businesslike again.  "I know this all sounds fantastical and strange, but please, try to be open-minded."  He paused, and Misty felt his eyes boring into her back.  He suddenly continued.  "A note written beside the chains said, 'If a human wears the necklace appropriate to their gender, they are more readily able to use their power.  A pendant will never fail to find the one destined to wear it.  Only the joining of the Desti and Destae will enable the use of the power."

  "Desti?  Destae?" asked Misty, desperately trying to understand everything Simon was telling her, especially after he'd said he knew how weird it all was.  She didn't want to seem foolish.

  "It is the language of the ancient civilization that wrote the book.  Desti means 'Son of Destiny'."

  "And Destae?"  She turned her head to Simon, whose face was inches from her own.

  " 'Daughter of Destiny'."

  Misty sank down onto the corner of the bed.  Her head was spinning.  _What is he talking about?  I can't…I don't…I won't… Why is he telling me all of this?  I don't understand!  Misty looked up at Simon, a pleading expression on her face.  He reached to his collar, and drew a silver chain from underneath.  He kept his gaze fixed firmly on Misty's eyes._

  "No, no…No,  Simon.  No.  This is too weird.  This isn't happening.  It's like a dream or a story, not real life," she said, shaking her head, denying it all, the necklaces, and everything Simon had said.  Simon stepped away a little, bringing a little space between them.

  "It was destined to happen, Misty.  You can't deny destiny.  You may run, but you cannot hide.  Whatever you do, wherever you go, you will not escape from it.  You can't.  Sooner or later, it will catch up with you.  That is the role of Destiny itself."  Misty mentally balked at this leap of faith, from a scientist of all people, and one she hardly knew.  But there was something in his voice, and in his face…  He reached out and lifted the pendant that hung around Misty's neck, so that there was a pendant in each of his palms.  It made them a circuit:  the chain around Misty's neck was connected to Simon's hand, which connected to his body, so touched his chain.  His eyes flicked from Misty to the pendants, and back again.  He was asking for something. Permission.  Misty's permission.  Misty paused for a second, then nodded, wondering if she was crazy to be even taking any of it seriously.  Simon took a deep breath, and steadied his hands, so that they were on a level.  He took another breath, his gaze flicking between each of the little clusters of opal and crystal.  Then, slowly, so achingly slowly, Simon drew his hands together.  Misty saw everything in slow motion.  The broken edges getting closer together, glinting, shimmering, closer, closer…

  Sparks suddenly flew from the pendants.  Purple, pink, gold, white, blue sparks, tiny ones, darting from the broken edges, as they got within an inch of each other.  Simon held them there for a moment, before they finally met.  The opals and crystals fitted together perfectly, the halves finally made whole.

  Misty gasped.  A strange feeling had swept over her.  She looked around the room, but everything was as it had been moments before.  She just felt so strange…

  _Are you alright?  A voice spoke.  Simon's voice.  Misty stared at him.  His lips hadn't moved, but she could swear that he'd spoken…_

  _This is the first time this has happened to you.  It will feel a little strange.  After a while, your mind and body will get used to it._

_  What?  What do you- Misty stopped short, cutting herself off with a gasp.  Neither her words nor her gasp had come from her throat or mouth.   She was afraid to speak again.  But it wasn't speech.  That was the thing.  Her thoughts just came out loud…  __My thoughts!  You can hear my thoughts?_

_  Yes.  That is one of the skills that the power gives you.  Telepathy!  We are connected.  It's a gift, Misty, and incredible gift!  Don't be afraid of it.  Use it!  Simon moved closer.  There was an almost sickening urgency in his mind that raced into hers, and she felt as if she was stood inches from a flood of desperation.  She shied away._

  _This is too weird, Simon. I'm dreaming.  I must be!_

_  It's not a dream, Misty.  It's a reality!  Simon's earnest enthusiasm caught at Misty, and she didn't know whether to fight it or feel it._

  _It's a dream.  It is.  It's all a dream.  This is too weird, too far away from anything that's normal. I was a normal person with a normal life, just a couple of days ago!  This isn't happening.  It's a dream!  Why can't I wake up?  Simon, why can't I wake up?  I want to wake up!  I want to get out of here!  Misty began to panic.__  Let me out, let me go!  Simon!  SIMON!_

_  You can't wake up, Misty.  This is your destiny.  He stated it as a fact, gently but firmly.  He was inhumanly calm, unbelievably assured._

_  What do you mean?  This isn't__ my destiny.  I choose!  It's my choice!  How can I  be so special, Simon?  Tell me.  How can I be so special?  What makes me SPECIAL?  The undercurrent of her thoughts flowed around her words: __it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real._

  Simon halted, and he gazed at her.  And there was something in his gaze.__

_Just look at yourself, Misty!  Simon's thoughts became rapt in wonder and some strange satisfaction.  He looked into Misty's eyes, and they were blue, as usual, but the blue was now a light, beams glowing and reflecting inside her irises, glimmering, shining, __beaming with an incredible energy that was beyond light itself.  Simon approached her further, fascinated by her eyes, unable to look away from those unearthly oceans of sapphire._

  As they got closer, Misty's entire body began to glow faintly, and as she suddenly lost the strength to stand, and fell against Simon, he put his arms around her.  She had to close her eyes against the light, which then began glowing from Simon as well.  She stood, afraid and exhilarated at the same time.  He pulled her closer, until they were as close as they could be, and they stood, in the relative shadow of the Simon's room, an intolerable light, two halves joined as a brilliant whole, an aura of light reaching out all around them.  When Misty finally opened her eyes, and looked into Simon's, she could see the colour.  At last, the colour of those eyes was revealed to her, and in seeing it, she could see him, his entire being.  His hidden emotions, which he'd smothered with the passive, cold logic of a scientist.  The pain and sorrow that filled and drenched him.  And the overwhelming determination and triumph at seeing her, Misty, there with him.  She finally understood, in that moment, she understood it all.  Their gaze was fixed on each other, into each other's eyes, into each other's beings, beyond all sense, reality and reason.  Simon's eyes flashed and sparkled, and the light from them joined hers, and she saw, in that glorious moment, that they were a fierce and brilliant gold.   


	6. Emotions

**Chapter Six**

**Emotions**

  The light suddenly vanished from them both.  Misty went limp in Simon's arms, and he caught at her quickly, to stop her from falling to the floor.  He laid her gently onto his bed, drawing his arms carefully from her.  He stepped away, to watch her in silence from his chair, which he drew nearer to the bed.  Misty lay unconscious.

  Simon sighed.  He'd hoped that wouldn't happen.  _But __I should have known it would.  _

  Misty's face was relaxed, all worry and pain gone.  Simon watched her, thoughtful.  _She's so powerful.  She has it.  I knew she had it.  I knew it!  Everything is coming together, at last!  She is perfect.  So innocent and pure, just lying there-  Simon broke himself off in his train of thought.  __No.  This isn't the time.  There's work to do.  Just use her, and get rid of her.  That was always the plan.  That's always been the plan.  It will__ be as I planned it.  Simon looked away, out of the window, to avoid thinking too much about how Misty looked as she lay there, drawing in gently sighing breaths, her cheeks pink, her shiny hair almost glowing in the soft light-_

  "No!  I have to stop this!" cried Simon angrily, frustrated with himself, and Misty, too.  It was her fault.  It wasn't _his choice that she had to be… well, pretty.  But it didn't matter.  Outside appearances didn't matter, only the power inside!_

  Simon paced the room, fiercely blinking and looking at the floor whenever he found himself looking at _her again.  Finally, too annoyed to stay, too angry at himself, he left the room, and strode furiously to his lab, shooting evil looks at everything he saw, looks that could have turned everything to ashes with their blazing fire of gold._

  _As long as I just keep an eye on her, she can stay where she is until she wakes up.  She'll need time to regain her strength.  Simon halted, considering, frowning.  __Time is not something I have._

  "But we don't have time!" protested a stubborn voice. 

  Brock and Pikachu both tried to reason with Ash, but it was no good.  

  "There's plenty enough time.  Besides, if you don't sleep, you won't have enough energy to search anyway.  And you can't expect to see her in the dark, when you should be asleep," Brock insisted.

  "Pika pi!" added Pikachu, earnestly.

  "I don't care."

  "You're wrong, Ash.  You do care.  You care a lot.  And that's why you won't listen to anyone except your own conscience."  Brock waited for another outburst, but Ash had fallen silent.  "I care, too.  But you can't keep punishing yourself for something that isn't your fault!"

  Ash had finally resigned himself to what must be.  "I just feel... so… helpless."  He sighed heavily, the weight of the world on shoulders unaccustomed to burdens.  "I've always been able to do something about it if something went wrong.  Now I'm just failing at everything.  And it would fine if it was only me suffering because of it.  But it's not just me.  It's one of my best friends.  It's Misty."

  Brock watched Ash in concern.  He was really worried about him.  Ash had been dealing with everything pretty well so far, but now he seemed to just have given up.  No, not quite given up…  _He's overworking himself trying to find her, but he doesn't seem to expect that he ever will anymore.  It's almost like he knows something we don't, about this whole situation.  It didn't make any sense to Brock.  He sighed.  "If we give up, there's no hope at all.  If we don't find her, who will, Ash?  Who?  We're her best friends.  We know her best.  We know that she'll be okay.  That's why it'll be us who never gives up, us who stays confident, and us who knows that everything will work out.  And that's why it'll be us that finds her."_

  As Brock finished speaking, Ash looked up at him.  His dark eyes held an intensity that Brock had never seen in his friend before.  Ash held out his hand to Brock.

  "We'll find her," he said, as they shook on their promise, a promise to each other, and a promise to Misty.

  "Pikachu!" agreed the little Pokemon fiercely.

    A person walked among the trees, silent, watching, waiting, and listening.  Two voices could be heard, boy's voices, arguing about something.  The shadowy figure slipped through the brush towards the voices, and saw them.  A boy with black hair, and an older boy with brown hair.  They were arguing about their search.

  The stranger sighed, listening on as the conversation developed.  _They still haven't found her.  Don't they have any idea?  It's so obvious!  Well, I guess it would be to me…  Another sigh.  __Should I help them?  Should I tell them who I am, and how to find their friend?  A thoughtful pause.  __Wait, I can help them, and not need to say who I am!  They don't need to know.  They'd only hate me and refuse to listen anyway, if I told them.  Satisfied, the stranger waited until the conversation ended, watching the pair shake hands.  The little Pikachu's determination, echoing its trainer's, brought a smile to the stranger's face.  The figure moved closer still._

  Then Brock and Ash spotted the shadow moving among the trees.  Panicked, the stranger had a  sudden change of mind, and ran, disappearing again, small and silent.

  "Who _is that?  And why do they keep watching us?" cried Ash, frustrated, as they ended their run, arriving at the then empty place where the stranger had been._

  "I don't know," replied Brock, frowning.  "But I think we should aim to find out."

  Ash hadn't got any sleep that night, anyway.  He tossed and turned, until he just gave up trying, and wriggled out of his sleeping bag.  He sat on top of it, crouched with his arms holding his knees against his chest.  The night sky was incredible.  There weren't any clouds to hide the stars, and they glittered and twinkled in their millions.  Ash watched them in silence.  Thoughts crowded into his mind.  _Where are you, Misty?  What's going on?  He thought about how his life had changed since Misty had vanished, how many things within himself that he'd had to confront, things he'd preferred to ignore or put off.  It had been easier then, simpler.  Reliable.  __Why can't things just go on the way they've always been?  It doesn't make any sense.  He sighed in frustration.  __I can't sleep.  I'll only have more of those weird dreams.  The thought of them brought the visions flickering back into Ash's mind, fleeting close enough to his memory to give that edge of fear and sadness they held, but vanishing when he tried to grasp them in his mind.  It didn't make sense anymore.  It just didn't make sense.  _

  Everything was silent around Ash.  There wasn't even a hint of a breeze.  The trees remained silent and still overhead.  There was not an ounce of comfort for Ash to draw from anything he could see or think of.  _What if she's lost somewhere?  What if she's as lonely and sad as I am?  What if she's crying right now?  Ash couldn't stop the thoughts crowding his mind.  He couldn't stop the wave of misery flowing over him, making him take gulping breaths, making tears rise in his eyes.  __What if she's as scared as I am?  The thought of her, imagining her stranded in a cold, desolate place, lying in some isolated patch of grass, smeared in dust and dirt, clothes torn, hair falling loose across her pale face.  He could almost hear her coughing, that harsh, snagging cough she'd had.  He could almost see her eyes shining with tears, as they streamed down her face.  _

  Ash shut his eyes against the picture, trying to force it away.  Tears started up into his own eyes again, and he couldn't stop them this time.  He tried to brush them away, but he couldn't get rid of them fast enough.  A single drop fell down his cheek onto his arm, and he stared at it with a numbed expression.  Then he couldn't hold it in any longer, and more tears fell, until he didn't bother to try to brush them away anymore.  

  He looked up at the starlit sky.  He wondered how the stars could be shining when he was so miserable.  Their soft, unerring light only made him feel sadder.  He choked on a sob, and bowed his head again, hiding his tear-smeared face with his hands and arms.

  Pikachu stood silent and unseen behind him.  The little Pokemon knew what Ash was feeling.  It felt it too.  Tears filled Pikachu's eyes, making them sparkle and shimmer.  

  So the pair sat there, one watching, unnoticed, over the other, hoping that the watching and sharing of the pain might somehow make it easier on its friend.  Meanwhile, the stars continued to shine overhead, heedless of everything that happened below.

  Simon paced his room, watching the girl still asleep on the bed.  He'd made up another bed on the floor for himself, but he couldn't sleep anyway.  Not with _her there.  He'd considered carrying her to her own room, but the idea of holding her in his arms was out of the question.  He couldn't allow himself to do anything that might make him feel… anything._

  Impersonal.  Businesslike.  Unbiased.  Yes.

  He paused beside the bed.  Misty was still in exactly the same position as she'd been when he put her there.  And she was still beautiful.  

  Misty suddenly shivered a little in her sleep.  Simon jumped to her side, and fetched a blanket when he saw she was just cold. He drew it gently up over her, and she smiled in her sleep.  Simon paused as he let the blanket go, his hands placed on the bed on either side of Misty's shoulders, his face looking down on hers.  He stood frozen like that for a minute, just gazing at her, mind, for once, clear of thoughts of how he should stay cold and distant.  All he could see was her power, reflected in her sweet smile, and her pink-tinted cheeks.  The fragrance of her hair filled him with the hunger for her strength, and her soft breathing, and the beating of his own heart, filled the air with the rhythm of it.  

  All he could feel was the gentle _thrumming _of that newly-woken power, lapping against him like the cool, quiet tide of the ocean, drawing him in so slowly, he didn't even know he was moved.  He lifted a hand, and traced a line down her soft cheek with the back of his finger.

  He took a deep breath, and, before he could stop himself, he leant down very slowly towards her.  All he wanted was just to- 

  Her eyes flicked open, and looked straight into his. 

  In that instant, the spell was broken, and Simon spun around and away, disappearing through the door, which closed behind him with a bang.

  Misty sat up slowly, confused and still sleepy.  "What was…" she wondered.  Then, "What's going on now?" she asked herself, as she sank back down to the warm covers.  Too tired to think about it any further, she fell asleep with a puzzled expression on her face.

  Ash wandered along the beach, solitary and cold.  The sun wasn't up yet, but Ash hadn't slept at all anyway.  He walked slowly along the beach, retracing the route Misty had taken that fateful day.  The shimmering fog lay, as always, in a haze over the ocean.  Ash gazed at it long and hard, trying to fathom it's mysterious depths.  That was when he saw it.

  A shadowy outline, far off on the horizon.  As Ash spotted it, and his eyes were riveted to it, images flashed through his mind.

  The far off shadowy place he'd dreamed of.  The dark clouds overhead.  The strange figure, watching, waiting…

  "Misty!" Ash cried, running towards the little shadow so far away.  He was brought back into reality by the freezing waves as he ran into them, and they soaked him instantly, almost knocking him over.  He shook his head to clear it, startled, and backed up onto the sands.  

  His face was set in a determined frown.  He made a low, throaty growling sound through his clenched teeth, as he raised a fist.

  "You're there, Misty.  I know you are.  And I'm coming to rescue you," he vowed.

  "Simon?"  Misty's voice was small and timid in the grand silence of the laboratory.  She'd woken up really early, from falling asleep so early the day before, and had decided to set off to find her new companion.  She'd been surprised to find herself in his room, in his actual bed, and was even more disturbed by the vague memory of something she'd thought had happened.  But she couldn't be sure, so she'd decided that she had to ask him.  She had no idea how.

  " 'Um, Simon, were you in your room last night?'  No, that's stupid, it's his room, he was obviously there at some point!  'Did you almost…'  What?  Did you almost kiss me?  I can't ask him something like that!  What if it had never happened?  It'd be so embarrassing!"  Misty was having no luck trying to think of what to say to Simon.  It seemed like she wouldn't need to, anyway.  She couldn't find him anywhere.  

  She wandered over to a nearby table, studying the shining glass tubes and bottles of another experiment.  She was soon lost in thought.

  "Misty?"

  Simon's voice startled her, and she almost stumbled and fell as she turned around.  She was even more surprised at Simon's closeness.  When she turned, she found herself a bare inch from him.  His sparkling golden eyes were all she could see.  His gaze was fixed into her own eyes, and the gaze was intense, wonderfully intense.  Though neither of them knew it, a faint light began to shimmer around them, a sign of the power they shared.

  The light suddenly vanished, as Simon gulped and stepped back.  The link that had formed through their gaze was broken. 

  "I, um, I mean, I…" Simon stammered.  Misty did a double take in surprise.  Simon was never nervous.  He was never anything.  He had no emotions.  _Then how is it that he's stammering? she wondered.  _

  Simon seemed to have regained his composure.  "I think, now that you're feeling better, I should finish telling you everything you need to know."

  "There's more?" Misty asked, in genuine surprise.

  "Yes.  There's more," Simon replied.  "There's much more."       


	7. Explanations

**Chapter Seven**

**Explanations**

  "But you've told me so much already…" Misty said, shaking her head confusedly at Simon.

  "I know. And I wouldn't tell you everything all at once like this if I had a choice.  But unfortunately we've run out of time.  I have to reveal everything to you _now."  Misty was taken a little aback by his urgency, but he didn't give her time to react.  Simon walked across the lab as he spoke, and stopped in front of the part of the wall where the photo of the family hung.  Misty glanced from Simon to the picture, and back again.  She searched his face._

  "First, I have a question."  Her large blue eyes were piercing, and she obviously wanted honest answers. There'd been a question hanging over her for a long time, and now seemed the best time to ask for the answer.  

  "Well?"  Simon encouraged her, as she paused haltingly.

  She took a deep breath.  "I think I've always been quite a healthy person.  But a while ago, I know I got really tired and sick.  And that was just before I got here.  I don't know why that happened, but I am certain that there's a connection.  Between that and you.  And I'm just as certain that you know why."  Misty's gaze fixed on Simon's face.  Her eyes both accused him and pleaded with him.

  He swallowed, seeming a little flustered.  "I…That is, you…"  He halted, then plunged on, spilling his words out all at once as if afraid his listener would vanish at any moment.  "It was the necklace.  I told you already that they have a connection, a bond of some kind, and they are closely linked to the power inside you, and me, and Pokemon.  It was a…side effect, I guess."  He slowed down then, and his golden eyes looked straight into Misty's.  "I'll explain properly.

  "The chains themselves are not particularly important.  It's the pendants that are significant.  They have a form of power within themselves.  But they do not have the ability to use it, to do anything with it: they don't have the kind of awareness, consciousness, that humans and Pokemon have.  However, they have an attraction to the power, though the word attraction is a loose term for it.  It is some kind of join or bond they have with the power around them.  That is how they can…  That is why they find those with power.  Their thirst for it draws them to those who have it.  

  "Once in the possession of someone with this power, they take it for their own.  If they come into physical contact with the person, actually touch their skin, they are able to draw on their strength.  Their greed for the power is practically insatiable.  That was why you became weak.  The pendant was taking more of your power than your body could do without."

  Misty's eyes turned on Simon.  "How is this possible?  How can a _pendant_ have a mind and will of it's own?"

  "I don't know."  His eyes were frank and honest.  "I just don't know.  I've been experimenting for years, and that is one question I've never been able to answer.  I suspect there is something more to those pendants, maybe even some kind of living thing or force inside them, but I haven't been able to draw any real conclusions."  Simon's shoulders drooped a little, and his gaze dropped to the floor.  

  "Oh…"  Misty's disappointment was obvious.  She wanted answers, and wasn't getting all of them.  Then she realised how Simon was feeling: a failure.  She decided to move on to another topic.  "How is it I don't feel tired or sick anymore?"

  Simon looked up, and he became enthused and earnest again.  "I hadn't been able to predict it, as I haven't been close by another person with power and a pendant, but the factor of decreased distance between the wearers seems to act as a kind of catalyst, multiplying the normal resources of power each person, and each pendant, produces and holds.  The pendants drew on that extra amount of power that we were subconsciously pooling together.

  "In simple terms, when the wearers are close together, there is more power to go around, though I haven't figured out why that is yet."

  Misty drew a sudden breath.  "That was why…  When I first got here, and you came close, the pain and tiredness went away…" Her sentence trailed off.

  "Yes," Simon nodded to her, earnestly, watching the realisation dawn on her face.  She looked up at him, and he looked away.  There was a pause.  Then he spoke.  "There's another other thing I have to tell you."

  Misty tried to keep the sudden anxiety that rose inside her out of her voice.  "Tell me."

  "It's about my experiments.  I said before that I needed a Pokemon with power, strong enough for me to be able to draw some of it out."  Simon's hand lifted to a section of the brickwork, made a quick movement, and an entire part of the wall slid back and to one side, revealing a hidden area.  Through it a light glowed, a light that floated and circled in a mesmerizing pattern.  

  Misty felt a hand take hers, and Simon led her towards the light.  As they got closer, Misty saw that Simon's eyes were glowing, and she found that she could see everything a lot better in the darkened room.  The bobbing light got brighter, too, and Misty could see that it was actually a creature, flying and dancing in the air.

  She opened her mouth to speak, and she reached out a hand to the magical creature, but was cut short by the feel of black bars blocking her way.  She ran her hand up the bar, and reached out her other hand to discover another, and another.  "Why are there these bars?"  

  "They stop that creature from escaping.  They're made with a chemical I recently created, that prevents excess use of any power, contains it.  That means the creature can't teleport, or use its full strength."

  Misty's shining blue eyes turned on Simon's golden gaze.  "Isn't that cruel?"

  "It's necessary."

  Misty watched the creature.  It's blue eyes gazed placidly back into her own.  But those eyes were holding something more… 

  Misty looked closer, and a bond of power began to form between the two.  A thread of understanding reached out from each of them, and tried to join them.  As the threads got closer and closer, to joining their minds and understanding, Misty began to see what was held in those eyes.  _Pain…_

  Simon took Misty's hand again, and the threads of the bond vanished.  Misty wondered what it was she'd almost understood, but Simon was holding her attention now.  His eyes entranced her, held her.  Her mind struggled to think, and her lips moved in an effort to form words.  

  "I need this power.  I need it to achieve my goal.  I need it to complete my life's work.  You understand, don't you?"

  "I…"  Misty shut her eyes in concentration.  She worked through her question carefully.  "What power?"

  The golden eyes held her again.

  The lips moved.  

  The mind and voice spoke.

  An answer echoed in Misty's ears and thoughts.

  "The power of Mew."

  "She's there.  I know it."

  Officer Jenny swallowed hard, trying to stop herself getting angry.  "I'm telling you, there is no 'there'.  There's no island off that coast.  There never has been!"

  Ash wasn't going to agree.  "I saw it.  I saw it there."

  "Then where is it now?" the police officer demanded, beckoning to the empty sea-sky horizon to her right, grinding her heel into the sand of the beach in frustration.

  Ash sighed heavily, and lowered his gaze.  "I don't know."

  "Look, Ash, we all want to find her, but I think you should get more sleep.  Don't be mad at me for saying this, but are you sure you really saw it?  People who are that tired sometimes see things that aren't really there," Brock said, gently.  Ash turned on him in anger and shock.  

  "Don't _you even believe me?  I can't believe this!  Pikachu, you believe it, don't you?"  Ash's eyes shimmered as they turned on the little Pokemon.  Pikachu stood for a moment, looking into his friend's face, wondering if it was really possible._

  "Pika."  The little head nodded, then the big black eyes turned on officer Jenny and Brock.  "Pika-chu, ka-chu, pika-pi pika-chu.  Pi-pi!  Pika-Pi!  Pika-CHU!"  

  The two of them exchanged looks, unconvinced, and Brock sighed.  Again, he tired to dissuade Ash from being so absolute about the whole thing.

  "James!  Come here!"  

  Jesse's voice was harsh as always as she commanded her teammate.  James, his back to her as he finished the apple he was eating, pulled a face, rolling his eyes.  "All she does is moan and boss me around…" he complained under his breath.  Meowth laughed at him, without sympathy as usual. 

  "JAMES!" 

  He heaved a sigh, and stood up, tossing his apple core into a nearby bush.  He joined Jesse at a gap in the trees.  "What is it now?" he asked.  Meowth walked over to listen in on the gossip.  "What's up Jesse?" he asked in his purring voice. 

  "Look there," she said, pointing a finger through the gap.  James and Meowth turned and spotted it: Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Officer Jenny, talking together.  

  "Hey!  It's them!" James cried.  "But what's so special about that?  We always seem to see them…"  

  Jesse smashed him over the head with her fist.  "Don't be so dim!" she growled through clenched teeth, ignoring James' whimper.  "It's another chance to catch Pikachu!  And we WON'T mess this one up."  

  James looked at the group through the trees again.  "Ash, Brock…  Wait, Jesse!  That's not the usual girl, Misty, that's…  That's Officer Jenny!"  

  Jesse turned and looked carefully in surprise.  "You're right, James!  What's going on then?  Where's the other twerp disappeared to?"

  "They look like they're talking about something important," James commented.

  "Hmm," muttered Jesse, as she moved to a closer vantage point, carefully so as not to be heard.  James tiptoed behind her, and Meowth followed, knowing to watch and listen, not talk, for once.

  They caught enough of the conversation to understand the gist of it.

  "So," muttered Jesse.  "The other twerp has gone, and they think she's on some island near here.  And they want to rescue her.  This should get interesting."  An evil smile curved her lips.  "Very interesting indeed…"

  The stranger watched.  The mysterious mind was finally made up.  

  The figure walked out of the trees, with a stride of determination, and stood in front of Ash, Brock and the officer.  They turned and jumped with surprise in unison.  The stranger was a girl, between Ash and Brock in age.  She was cloaked in black, and a silver clasp held the cloak at her neck.  Her long hair shone blue-black, loose down her back, and strands of it blew across her face in the wind.  Her bright blue eyes glittered in the sunlight.  She stood, watching them, meeting the gaze of each, then spoke.

  "Ash is right.  There is an island.  And I can take you there."

  The three friends stared in shock.  "Who are you?" asked Ash.  "And how do you know about Misty and the rest of us?"

  The girl looked Ash straight in the eye.  "I can't give you all the answers now.  But I can help you."  The deal she was offering was clear: no questions, no interrogation, in return for her aid with their problem.

  Officer Jenny started to protest, but Ash cut in.  "Take us there.  Take us to the island."  He paused, eyes flicking away as he formed his demand in his head.  His gaze snapped back to the girl's face.

  "Take us to Misty."

  "So what are you going to do with… with Mew?"  Misty's question echoed in the silence of the room.  Mew's eyes continued to gaze inquisitively at both the humans.

  "We will use our power to take Mew's.  In doing this we will greatly increase our own power, and fix a lasting store of it into each of our pendants.  That will enable me to study the power fully, in a way I have never hoped to study it before."

  "Take Mew's power?  But when the pendant drew on me, I was really weak and sick!  Won't it make Mew the same?  Or even worse?" Misty cried, her blue eyes wide and shining.

  "It won't necessarily harm Mew.  It can regain strength, over time."  Simon paused, obviously reluctant.  "But… there _is_ a chance that the experiment could go wrong."

  "Go wrong?"

  "A small chance.  As we have never used our power like this before, we could drain Mew without realising it, or simply not be able to prevent such drainage."

  Misty's eyes grew even larger.  Her question was low, almost a whisper.  "What would that mean for Mew?"

  Simon didn't try to avoid her gaze.  "It would lose all its power.  Considering that Mew has had the power all it's life, and has had so great an amount of it, it could…"  Simon trailed off, unsure of whether to finish his sentence.

  Misty looked from the glowing creature, which still watched them intently, to Simon's glittering eyes.  "It could what?"

  Simon avoided her eyes, a dissastisfied expression on his face.  Misty wasn't about to let it go so easily.  

  "It could _what_?"

  Simon's golden eyes suddenly caught Misty, and a thread of a bond began to extend between them, as it had between Misty and Mew.  The thread filtered through the darkness that lay between them, grew, thickened.  As it brushed against Misty's mind, knowledge flew through her consciousness, images of Simon's life, his memories, his emotions, and his past.  Simon saw similar visions of Misty's life, looking, to him, like a little flickering flame, in danger of burning out at any moment.  And in that moment, they were joined, their minds linked together.  The thread grew, pulsed with life and meaning.  They were one, in thought, soul and power.  Their lives became suddenly interwoven.  Their destinies were joined.

  "Don't you see?" cried Jesse.  Meowth nodded.  

  "See what?" asked James, as slow on the uptake as ever.

  "Our chance!" Meowth told him.

  "To catch Pikachu," added Jesse.  

  "How?" wondered James.

  "It's simple!  We follow them to that island…" began Jesse.

  "And while they're busy thinking about nothing but finding their friend…." continued Meowth.

  "We snatch Pikachu!" finished James, laughing evilly.  

  The three pairs of eyes gleamed wickedly.

  "Perfect!" they said in unison.

  Their steady eye contact held them, made the bond complete.  But Misty's question still hovered unanswered.  She gazed at Simon, and he saw the question in her eyes, as he heard it in her words.

  "What would happen to Mew?" she asked, a shiver of fear in her voice.

  Simon's mind echoed the words he spoke aloud.  

  "Mew would die."

  "We leave now," Ash said, in a voice of steel.

  "No."  The girl's tone was firm.

  "Why?" Ash demanded.  He and the girl were like steel clashing with steel, Brock thought: it seemed both were strong, both fierce when they believed in something.  Officer Jenny listened in grave silence.

  "It's not as simple as it seems.  The island can only be seen at one time of day.  If you don't set off for it within exactly the right few minutes, it disappears from view, and you'll never find it.  It takes ten minutes, at least, to get close enough so that you can still find it even once it disappears."

  "It's not right!  I can't do it!" cried Misty, her face pleading and distraught.

  "You can.  And you will."  Simon's cool tone had no 'maybes' in it.  He was resolute.

  "I won't!"

  Her protest didn't affect him, but his voice rose a little.  "Don't you see?  This will complete my work!  It will make everything worth all those years!  I will be finished!"  She saw images of an older man, and the word _Father…_ drifted to her from Simon's thoughts.  She dragged her attention back into focus.

  He was leaving no options open to her.  She fought against his words. 

  "It's not fair!  It's not fair to Mew!"

  "It is necessary."

  "It's not!  Mew will die!  Can't you see it?  Mew will DIE!"

  "It has to be done."

  "Simon!"  Misty's eyes filled with tears, as they gazed earnestly into Simon's.  The quiet control of his voice contrasted with the fearful defensiveness of hers.  Their eyes met, and the bond came into play again, the force of each one's will trying to flow into the other, but having to battle halfway.

  "You will do it, Misty.  You will."

  "I won't."  Tears ran down her face.  A silence.  He watched her tears, followed their sparkle with his eyes.  The silence grew long, and drove into Misty's ears.  Anger suddenly rose inside her.  "When I first met you, I saw you had something missing.  I felt it, inside.  I didn't know what it was, not at first.  But then I figured it out.  I saw your fault.  You had no emotion, Simon.  No emotion!"  Misty paused, regaining control.  "And I'd thought you'd changed.  I thought you'd found your feelings again."

  "What?"  Simon was torn between anger at Misty's outburst, and shock at her words.  She didn't even notice that he'd spoken.

  "I was wrong.  You aren't even human!"

  Simon's face was contorted with his fury.  His mouth opened to yell at her, but he brought just enough control to his voice to give his words their fullest meaning.  "By the power within you, and the bond that connects us, I COMMAND YOU TO OBEY ME."

  Misty's mind battled against his, but his will was stronger.  He battered down her walls.  She felt herself breaking, falling before him, felt her last wall of resistance hit the ground with a muted, hollow sound that echoed through her.

  He'd won.

"How is it that it disappears?" asked Jenny.

  "The fog shows up the island as a small silhouette.  It's too small to be seen at any other time than when the fog is at it's thickest."

Her eyes looked up into his.  Defeat and sadness flowed across to him, but he hardened himself to it.  His face was set.  Expressionless.  No emotion was going to stop him.

  "You will do this.  We will finish what we began."

  "When?" Misty whispered, tears flowing, shining.

   "What time?" Ash demanded.

  "When do we start?" smirked James.

  "Dawn," answered the girl.

  "Dawn," agreed Team Rocket.

  "Dawn," commanded Simon.


	8. Preparation

**Chapter Eight**

**Preparation**

  Ash found sleep impossible that night.  At least, he was determined to find it impossible.  He thought it would be a kind of betrayal to Misty to sleep when she was lost and scared, when he was going to rescue her the next day.  He had a lot to think about.  _But it might not be a rescue.  She's probably fine.  He frowned in spite of himself.  _But it doesn't make sense.  If she had gone on her own, she'd have let us know what was going on by now.  So either she's too weak or hurt to find us and let us know, or someone is holding her captive in some way…  But why would anyone want to hold Misty prisoner?  What could anyone want from her that they'd need to take her away in such secrecy?__

  All he could do was toss and turn in his sleeping bag, and wonder if the mission of tomorrow would be successful.  It wasn't that he was unsure if Misty really was on that island or not: he knew she was there.  He just didn't know if it would be that easy to find her once they got there.

  _What if there is__ someone there with her?  Stopping her leaving?  Hiding her?  What if she hides from us not knowing that it's me, come to find her? What it she's hurt?  Or unconscious?  Or…  What if…  if she's…  NO.  She's FINE.  I know she is.  She couldn't be… Nothing could happen to her without me knowing about it.  It couldn't.  I know you're there, Misty.  And I'm coming to get you.  Nothing is going to stop me from finding you.  Nothing and no one._

_  The same thoughts, the same resolutions kept running through Ash's mind, over and over, until it became a chant, putting him in a kind of trance._

  Despite all his determination to stay awake, his fears and worries eventually faded away, and sleep overtook him, finally giving his body a chance to rest a bit.  Not that it provided any rest for his mind.  That was ever active, and sleep could only take him from the frying pan into the fire as he began to dream again…

  Brock turned over.  Again.  He'd tried to stay still: he didn't want Ash to know he was still awake.  He just wanted some quiet, and was pretty sure that Ash wanted the same thing.  

  Brock was just as worried as his friend.  But he had another worry.  

  Was Misty really there?  Really, how could Ash know?  And be sure?  He'd had so little sleep recently…  _But then, none of us have slept very well.  How can we, with Misty gone?_

  But help had come, in the form of a lovely stranger.  _Beth, thought Brock, a soft smile spreading across his face.  __The most beautiful girl I've ever seen…  She'd help them.  She'd take them to the island, to Misty.  But despite her offer of help, Brock couldn't quite trust her.  There was something… well, strange, about her.  She was a girl with many secrets.  And not just little secrets.  She had __big secrets.  She was a girl surrounded by mystery, and she didn't even try to hide that fact.  _

  Brock remembered the conversation he'd had with her earlier.

   "So where are you from?" he'd asked.

   "I can't tell you. I said before that I won't be able to tell you everything about me," she said, dismissing Brock's seriousness easily.

  "Why?  Why the secrecy?" he persisted.

  She frowned, though not at Brock.  "For my protection.  I don't want to get any more involved in this than I have to be.  No more than I already am."

  "How involved are you?" asked Brock.  He wanted answers, and couldn't stop himself asking questions, though he managed to ask them gently.

  She sighed, and her sapphire gaze flooded his eyes again.  She thought about what she wanted to say.  "I've been involved in this since the beginning.  It goes back further than you think.  I can't tell you about the way it began…"  Her eyes shimmered, and she blinked and looked away from Brock again.  He looked at her with surprise and concern.  She was obviously really emotional about something to do with this whole situation.  Brock watched her, sympathy in his gaze.  He expected her to stop talking, but after a while she continued.  "It's got worse and worse.  I can't pull away; I can't get away from this.  Not until the end."  Again she met Brock's dark-eyed gaze.  "It has to end.  And it will.  Whether we want it to or not," she whispered.  Her eyes sparkled with tears in the light of the dying fire.  They gazed at each other for a little longer, then Beth abruptly stood up, turning away, and Brock saw her wipe hastily at her face with her arm.  She walked away, to a darker place under a nearby tree.  

  "We can do it if we do it together," Brock had called softly after her.  She hadn't even turned round.

  Brock frowned as he recalled it, and glanced over to the dark place.  She was there, sleeping on her side, her back to Brock.  He watched her side rise and fall with each breath under the black cloak.  Her hair had spilled loose from underneath the dark cloth, and glimmered a faint blue in the moonlight.  Brock watched a little longer, and finally turned over again, and back to his thoughts.

  "No… No!" 

  Ash muttered in his sleep as he dreamed.  The dream was very similar to what he'd seen before: a cliff, a girl, and a shadowy figure, taking Misty away from him.  Ash still hadn't figured out what it all meant, and the visions kept plaguing him, day and night.  It was getting to be more than he could stand.  

  With a cry, he woke up, flying upright, sweat on his face and his body.  It quickly cooled, making him shiver with cold and fear.

  He turned his gaze to the star-studded sky above him.  He shook with the chill, and with the burden of the feelings he was carrying.  

  "Soon," he whispered fiercely.

  Eventually the east began to show faint hints of grey, promising dawn.  Beth watched the sky, as it got slowly lighter ahead of her.  She was lost in thought, and didn't hear the person walk up behind her.

  "Awake already?" asked Brock.

  Beth turned.  "I…Yeh, I guess so."  She shrugged.  "It's kind of hard to sleep when there's a day like this one ahead of you."

  "I know exactly what you mean," Brock sighed in reply.  

  They just stood together for a while, watching the dawn in companionable silence.  The grey spread and grew across the sky, forcing the darkness to fade away.  The last few stars winked out in the west, as a hint of blue touched the east.

  Just then, Brock thought he could feel something: like a message trying to be sent, but to someone else, not to him.  It was like a telephone line was going right beside his mind, between two other people, and he thought he could almost hear the conversation that was being had.  Brock looked instinctively to Beth, standing silently beside him.  She wasn't looking at him.  She was still facing the east.  

  Brock shook his head, and the strange feeling went away.  He wondered if it had ever been there.

  With the faint glimmers of pre-dawn came the beginning of the mission.  As the sun was just starting to show, a thin, pale light on the horizon, they shoved off in the boat.  Each of the group was wrapped in their own silence, their own thoughts.  Ash was thinking about his dream, still trying to work it out.  Brock was puzzling over Beth, mulling over the conversations he'd had with her, the things she'd said, and the things she hadn't said.  Beth, perched by the rudder, where she guided the little vessel, had secret thoughts of her own.  Even Pikachu was silent in thought, wondering if Misty was all right.  He understood enough to know she was gone and in trouble, and that Ash was very worried.  He watched his friend and trainer with concern. 

  One feeling brought them all together though: a feeling of guilt.

  Officer Jenny had been called out on a sudden, very important case late the night before.  She'd told them to postpone the mission a day, as she said it wasn't safe for them to go without her.  Beth had seemed startled by the sudden demand of an important case, and then seemed very angry.  But she'd said nothing, only pursed her lips, and gazed fearfully at the horizon.  Ash and Brock had asked, again and again, if they could go ahead without her, or if she could put off the case for a day.  She had refused and refused, until she finally lost her temper.  

  "You will wait a day, and that's final!" she'd ordered, in a voice that was not to be argued with.  Ash had been sulky and Brock had been worried.  Pikachu had accidentally electrocuted all of them in his frustration.  That had made the officer even more annoyed, and she'd left them with a black cloud over their heads.

  What made all of them laugh a little, as well as feel uncomfortable, was that they'd all been up and ready before dawn the next day.  None of them had said anything about disobeying Jenny, they'd just all known, in themselves, that they could, and that they would: they all felt they had to.  

  So now, surrounded by gentle waves, shimmering in the growing light, they traveled to the island.  That mysterious, elusive place, still almost entirely hidden by fog, a dark shadow ahead in the distance.  Beth had known exactly where to go, even when the others had not been able to spot the island.  That had struck Brock as strange.

  A rare atmosphere of hopeful camaraderie had settled over them.  Here, with the breeze in their faces and hair, the dawn ahead, and a destination fixed in their path, a real mission in their hearts, they had hope again.  Ash was grinning, and flicking salty drops of water out of the rushing waves at Pikachu, who danced about in the boat, chuckling in his Pokemon language.  Brock's brows had finally lifted, the line of worry between them disappearing at last.  He smiled and faced the wind, laughing at Ash and Pikachu, until their battle suddenly included him.  He joined in with a grin, splashing Ash and Pikachu at the same time. 

  Even the stranger, wrapped in black, had a new shine to her eyes and a new light to her face.  Even she had a little hope now.  Though she knew, unlike the others with her, that this would be far from easy.  She shuddered involuntarily.  It wouldn't be easy at all.  Not with _him involved.  _

  "James!  Get a move on!" Jesse yelled to her teammate.  He was struggling with the little boat they'd managed to 'get hold of' at the last minute.  He heaved against it, trying to push it into the waves.

  "I'm going…  as fast…  as I can!" he cried, throwing himself against the boat between gasps.  

  "Well it's not fast enough!  They'll be out of sight soon, and then we'll be stuck and it'll be all your fault!" she cried mercilessly.

  "Maybe if you pushed too…" suggested Meowth.

  "Shut it Meowth!  Why don't_ you push?" retorted Jesse.  However, when she turned to see the other boat already closing in on the horizon, she strode over to James.  Waiting for the next incoming wave, she pushed as hard as she could.  The boat was finally in the water, and the three of them leapt in, grinning devilishly.  _

  "This time we'll do it!" cried Jesse.

  "We'll grab that little Pikachu!" added James.

  Meowth only nodded, grinning his feline grin to himself.  They would do it.  They would get Pikachu, and nothing and no one could stop them this time.  

  There was a knock at the door.  A voice called out softly.

  "Misty!  Are you awake?"

  The door handle turned, and Simon stepped around the door, entering almost silently.  He immediately looked to the bed, remembering the last time he'd been here, when he'd almost…  He shook his head.  He'd been awake all last night, thinking, thinking.  About the experiment, about Mew, about Misty.  Why did he feel like this about her?  It didn't make sense!  He hadn't planned this!  But he had eventually worked it out: when it came to love, to caring about someone else, it couldn't be planned, and it couldn't be changed.  Knowing that didn't make accepting it any easier, or ignoring it, and treating her carelessly, any less painful to himself.

  "Misty?" he called softly again, as he approached the bed.  He pulled aside the hangings, and saw her, sleeping.  But her sleep was not peaceful.

  A frown creased her brow, and she shifted about slightly, restlessly trying to find a comfortable position.  Simon frowned.  She needed all her energy for what they were about to do.  If she hadn't slept properly, she might not be able to last the time they'd need.  Not that he himself really knew how long it would take.  Everything that was logical and scientific in him was shouting out against this.  It was far too rushed: Misty had barely used her power before; he hadn't had time to form a proper link with her; he hadn't been able to persuade her to agree that Mew could be sacrificed; if she didn't agree, it could affect the extraction process.  They had to be in complete agreement.  It would be hard enough to battle against Mew's will, never mind battling with Misty's, too.

  He frowned again.  It really was far too rushed.  His preliminary research was nowhere near complete.  The extraction process itself would have to be mostly guess work.  It went against his nature to be unprepared for things, especially an experiment as important as this.  Time was against them, though: the communication of this morning that a certain person had sent him had sounded like too confident a challenge to be ignored.

  Misty suddenly started shivering in her sleep, and pulled herself into a tight little ball.  Simon reached out to touch her, to try and wake her up gently.  His hand stopped short of her cheek.

  Tears had formed at the corners of her tightly shut eyes, and then they rolled down her face.  Simon sat beside her, and stroked her cheeks gently, brushing away the tears.  Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at him miserably.  He took her hand, and she held it tight.  Suddenly she sat up and put her arms around him, hiding her face against his shoulder.  He patted her back gently, and the link between them told them both that there was no escaping what was about to happen.  Misty's sadness still poured out of her though in waves, spilling into Simon as he held her.  They sat in silence for a while, listening to the birds as they began to sing outside.  Dawn had broken. 

  "Is it time?" Misty finally asked quietly.

  "It is."


	9. The Island In The Mist

Chapter Nine

**The Island In The Mist**

  Misty threw a cloak around her shoulders, feeling a new determination coursing through her veins.  She was ready, she told herself, and her eyes froze to the colour of ice as she turned to face Simon.

  "I hate what you are making me do, and I would never do it if I had a choice.  But we have some kind of link between us, and you have used it to make me do what you want.  If I could, I'd knock you senseless and wouldn't regret it.  But most of all, I want you to know that after this thing is done, I'm leaving, and you will never see me again.  Don't you dare even try."

  Simon's face was set and his tone cold.  "That's fine by me.  And don't worry: I won't try."  He sounded harsh and uncaring, but on the inside he battled with himself.  He could feel her anger through their link, and it hurt him. He'd tried as hard as he could, but his feelings were there, and the idea of her leaving for good and remembering him with so much anger cut him deeply.  He firmly squashed the idea of letting go of his power over her.  There was no going back now.

  He beckoned her to follow, and, turning on his heel, led her to the laboratory.

  "We're nearly there!" cried Beth over the sounds of the rushing waves.  The three of them turned and saw the island looming out of the mist.  On the side facing them, there was a small beach.

  "We'll land here," said Beth, steering the rudder as the little boat skipped over the choppy water.  

  As they got closer, and the mist cleared, they all stared at the sky in shock.

  "What's going on?" cried Ash.  Dark clouds were forming over the island, thickening and swirling in a thundering mass.  They swelled in a growing vortex.  It was like seeing an entire sky full of storm contained in one place.  The clouds looked like they were about to burst with rain, thunder and lightning.

  Beth paled.  "Oh no.  It's happening- he's doing it.  We might be too late already!"  She had to yell over the rising winds as they got closer and the storm began to set in.

  "What are you talking about?" shouted Brock.

  "The tests are coming to an end: this is the final one.  Not even he knows what could happen.  He's using Misty to complete the triangle needed to conduct the experiment.  Anything could happen.  Someone could get killed if it goes wrong!" she yelled back, despair in her eyes.  Ash's face hardened, and a dark fire filled his eyes.

  "Who is he?  How do you know all of this?" shouted Brock.

  Beth's eyes filled with angry tears.  She took a shuddering breath and shouted her reply in a broken voice.

  "Because he's my brother."

  The secret room behind the lab was dim in the darkness of the gathering clouds above.  Mew was still trapped in the cage, and when it saw them walk in, it flew with alarming speed around its tiny confine.  As Simon shut the door behind them, Mew let out a cry and threw itself against the bars, though it made no difference.  It could not escape.

  Misty cried out as Mew battered against the bars again and again.  She could feel the waves of power it was using, muted by the chemical on the bars.  Simon strode closer and raised his voice over the noise of the dull cracks and thuds.  One of Mew's legs hung limp after one particularly sickening crack against the bars.

  "I suggest you save your strength, Mew.  You will need it if you are to survive this.

  "Misty: come here.  We must do this now.  My sister is coming, and she intends to stop me once and for all this time.  I cannot allow that to happen.  We have no time to lose.  Take my hand."

  Misty shook her head and her eyes were full of tears, but she could not deny him.  His will overrode her, and she stood frozen as he took her hand.  They faced Mew, who suddenly halted in mid air, watching them with its huge blue eyes.  Time itself seemed to suddenly stand still as the triangle was formed.

  As Simon closed his eyes and made his link with Misty secure in his mind, the light of their power began to glow around them.

  The boat ground harshly onto the sand.  Ash leapt straight out, followed quickly by Pikachu, Brock and Beth.

  "Ash, please!  We're already too late!  It's happening: nothing can stop it now," cried Beth as Ash began to pelt towards the trees.  He didn't stop, yelling over his shoulder as he ran with Pikachu at his heels.

  "It's not too late!  I've got to save Misty!"

  As he sped through the trees, a huge building appeared ahead.  He ran to the door and threw it open, letting it bang against the wall.

  "Misty!  Misty!  Where are you?  MISTY!" he yelled, running down the nearest corridor.  The first door led to an empty room, as did the next.  Then he found a locked door.  He threw himself against it, shouting Misty's name.  The door didn't move.  Ash stopped, panting.  Then he remembered something.  Taking a Pokeball from his belt, he cried out Charizard's name.

  "Charizard, use your tail and open that door!" he commanded.  The powerful dragon nodded, and a few hard strikes from its fiery tail cracked the door open.  

  "Good work Charizard!  Return," Ash said, and stepped through the doorway.  A man had leapt from a chair in the corner.  He was wearing an engineer's uniform, and looked tired and worn.

  "Thank you so much for rescuing me!  Who are you?  How did you find this place?"  He grabbed Ash's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

  Just then, Brock and Beth appeared in the doorway.  They looked puzzled.  

  "Who are you?" asked Beth.

  "I'm the engineer who was hired to fix that leak in the Pokemon Centre's roof, but a young man had me brought here instead, telling me this was where the Pokemon Centre was.  I didn't know the town so I believed him.  He had me build these two giant cages, made of some metal I've never seen before.  Then he locked me in here.  I can't believe you found me, I'm really in your debt!"

  Brock suddenly blurted out, "I remember!  Nurse Joy said she'd been expecting you, but your hadn't turned up!"

  Ash suddenly interrupted.  "Look, I can't wait around!  Do you know where the owner of this place is?"

  The engineer looked thoughtful.  He nodded gravely.  "Yep.  He'll be in his laboratory, probably in the secret room where I had to make those cages.  I'll show you."

  The light got stronger and stronger.  As Misty felt her link with Simon solidify and grow, she began to feel Mew's presence as well.  As a link began to form between Mew and herself, she suddenly heard Mew's thoughts and felt its pain.  It was terrible.  Mew's devastation swelled and overwhelmed Misty, and when she reached out to Mew, she felt an amazing power and beauty flow from the creature.  Sadness filled her heart.

  As the triangle was completed, Misty felt Simon's command to begin to drain Mew.  She began to give in, feeling her way tentatively along the link between them.  As she felt her way inwards to the source of the Pokemon's power, she found herself, and the pendant she wore, pulling at Mew gently.  As the slow, heavy leeching began, Mew's despair welled up inside Misty.  She knew that Mew was gazing straight at her.

  _Why are you doing this?_

Mew's thought was as simple and innocent as a child's.  As it sang through the link and into her mind, Misty saw the beauty and purity of Mew's life, and the goodness and happiness it enjoyed in the world.  She saw herself taking that away.  _Why do you want me to die?_

  _I DON'T!  _Misty suddenly thrashed about in her mind, fighting Simon's power over her.  Her eyes flew open and she lunged at the cage, beating at the bars in an effort to free Mew.

  Simon's inner strength flooded her, and when she turned, he was there, putting his arms around her, holding her tight as if comforting her.  _We must do this now._

  _I can't!  Please, Simon.  I don't want Mew to die._

_  Misty.  Help me.  I must complete what my father began.  It's my destiny to do this, just like it's your destiny to help me.  Please, Misty._

  She couldn't stop him or fight him.  She sank into his arms.

  The wall moved away, and a blinding light filled the room.  Ash, Brock and Beth ran into the secret room, shielding their eyes.

  "What is that?" cried Brock.

  Ash stared as his eyes adjusted to the brilliant pink, blue and gold light in front of them.  His eyes widened.  "It's Misty!"  

  "And my brother!" cried Beth.

  "But what's that other one?  That pink light?" asked Brock.

  Ash shook his head.  He'd never seen a Pokemon like that one before.  But what he couldn't look away from was Misty.  She was supported by the boy, who was gazing intensely into her face.  He glowed with an amazing golden light that seemed to centre in his eyes, and Misty was glowing an incredibly sapphire blue.  In that sparkling light, Ash saw how beautiful she was.

  The boy suddenly shut his eyes, an expression of sad resolution on his face, and pulled Misty closer in his embrace.  He kissed her forehead tenderly.  Ash sprang forward angrily.  There was no way he was going to let this go on any longer: Misty was rapidly losing strength, that much was clear.  That other boy was not to be trusted at all.  He didn't really care about Misty.

  Simon felt Misty's power surging through him, and he sent his own to her.  He gazed into her face.  Their link was completed, and he felt their minds join, and their consciousness' twine together.  The sense of completeness it gave him made his heart surge, and he pulled Misty closer, feeling a kind of elation he had never felt before.  Misty's thoughts slowly focused on him.  

_  I didn't realise…_  He felt her empathy as she saw the depth of his pain.  He felt her look into a part of himself he'd tried to forget.  _Your parents…  Your father.  _He watched in fascination as she took the pieces and fitted them carefully together.  Memories and feelings he'd tried to shut out came flooding back.  _It's okay, Simon.  You can remember your feelings.  Just don't let them ruin your life.  _The unity he now felt with Misty made all his years of loneliness a distant memory.  His old sadness simply didn't matter anymore.  Someone understood him.  

  That moment of unity did not last.  Simon felt Misty weaken, her power begin to fail.  He sent another surge of his own through her, pulsing it through her with the beating of his heart.  She didn't seem to feel it, and began to fade.  _Misty!  Don't give up.  Keep trying, stay with me now._  

She was slowly dying from his awareness of her.  He held her tightly, and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, _willing_ strength into her with everything he had.  The knowledge that that kiss would be the only act of emotion he would ever show her touched him so deeply it hurt.  Misty seemed to smile at that, a smile so sweet and caring he thought his heart would break.  She was thinking about more than that, though.

  _I know about your past now, Simon.  But don't let it ruin your future.  _She waned, waxed, waned again.  She struggled to organise her thoughts.  _Don't let it… ruin Mew's future.  Mew is dying.  Simon.  _She reached for a last clear thought.  _ Please don't let Mew die…_ __

  Beth cried out for Ash to stop, but before he got close enough to do anything, the Pokemon in the cage dropped to the ground, Misty went limp in the boy's arms, and the lights went out.  The darkness of the storm filled the room with shadows, and a cold silence fell.  Everyone stood frozen.  A rumble of thunder rolled heavily overhead.

  "Misty!" cried Ash, pulling himself back to reality.  He put an arm around the girl as the boy sank against the cage, losing grip on Misty.  Ash held her tight.  

  "Misty?  Are you okay?  Wake up, please wake up.  Come on Misty.  Open your eyes," he begged her.

  Beth ran to her brother.  "Simon?  Are you all right?"

  Simon had sunk to the floor, and leant back against the bars, breathing heavily.  His voice was surprisingly steady.  "She'll be okay.  I managed to push the last of my power into her before she disappeared.  Just let her rest a bit.  I'll do what more I can for her."  He closed his eyes, and seemed to be concentrating on something.

  Ash turned his head to glare at Simon.  "How could you?  What have you done to her?  If you've hurt her, I'll-"

  "WE'RE BACK!"

  Team Rocket suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere.

  Ash looked absolutely livid.  He laid Misty carefully on the floor, and stood to face the enemy, eyes black and murderous.  Beth and Brock stood alongside him.  Simon still hadn't opened his eyes, and lay as if made of stone.

  "We've come for Pikachu!  And you won't get away this time!" cried Jesse, pointing at Ash.

  Ash gritted his teeth.  "If you had ANY idea how bad your timing is right now, you'd GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!" he shouted furiously.  Absolute silence fell at Ash's outburst.  Thunder rolled again, booming with a foreboding strength.  The look on Ash's face was terrible to see.  Brock couldn't remember his friend ever being that angry, and it was almost frightening.  He went to touch Ash's arm, to try and calm him down, but Ash flinched away without even looking at him.  He practically snarled at Team Rocket.  "Can't you see that Misty needs help here?  I don't have time for this!"  

  Team Rocket looked rather taken aback.  But Jesse wasn't ready to give up.  "We didn't follow you all the way here just to turn around because your girlfriend gets some fainting fit!  Lickitung, attack!"

  "Squirtle, fight back!" Ash growled, releasing the Pokemon.  Squirtle shot a water gun at Lickitung, stopping its onslaught and sending it flying.  Ash's fury seemed to have passed onto his Pokemon.  Lickitung slid down the wall to the floor.  It tried to get up, staggered, and fainted.

  As the two sides battled fiercely, everything around them was forgotten.  Though Team Rocket put up a half-decent fight, they had fewer Pokemon, and Ash was fighting as he never had before.  His battle fury ended in an incredible thunder attack from Pikachu, and Team Rocket ran for it, cursing Ash and his friends as they made their escape.

  Ash heaved a sigh as their footsteps died away.  "Okay, now let's-"  He stopped short.

  The three of them looked around in shock.  Misty, Simon and Mew had disappeared.


	10. The Storm

Chapter Ten

**The Storm**

  "Oh no," said Brock.  "Where have they gone?"

  Suddenly they heard a slight scuffling noise from the darkness in the corner of the room.  A creature lay curled in a heap.

  "It's that Pokemon that was glowing before!" cried Ash.

  "What, Mew?" said Beth.  She strode across to the creature to look closer.  Suddenly she let out a gasp, and dropped to kneel beside it.  Ash and Brock quickly joined her.

  "That's Mew?" asked Ash, staring at the little pink Pokemon.  He let out a cry and took a step back as it suddenly moved, legs and arms drawing into its body, head joining into its stomach as it shrank into a small blob-like creature.

  "No," said Beth.  "Its my Ditto."  She laid a comforting hand on it, and it turned and smiled tiredly at her before she took out a Pokeball and returned it to safety and rest.  Ash and Brock stared at her in confusion.

  "Simon broke into my gym and took Ditto.  I think he used it to take on Mew's form in order to lure it here, knowing about its inquisitive nature.  He knew that if it saw another Pokemon like itself, it would follow it out of curiosity.  That's how he caught Mew."

  "You're the gym leader of Opal Gym," said Ash.  Beth nodded.

  Brock frowned.  "But why break in?  Why didn't he just ask to borrow Ditto?"

  "He realised that I knew enough about his research to know that it was dangerous.  He knew I disagreed with what he was doing.  I'd tried to stop him before, so breaking into my gym and ruining the place was a way of getting my Ditto, and… teaching me a lesson."  She looked away from their sympathetic faces.

  Ash shook himself.  "Where have they gone now?"

  Beth bit her lip thoughtfully.  "He must be trying to get away.  He'd need a boat, and there are only two beaches on this island, the one we landed on and another nearby.  I'll check the other if you and Brock-"

  Ash was already running for the door.

  Simon laid Misty in the boat.  The waves looked dangerous, but he had no choice.  He had to get away from the island, before his sister and those others could find him.  He still had to finish his research.  He had to.  There was only this final experiment to be completed.  They wouldn't stop him now.  Nothing would stop him.

  He pushed off and jumped in at the same instant as he heard a shout behind him.  That boy was running towards him.  Simon turned back to the wind and rain, a fierce determination on his face, as he guided the little boat straight into the heart of the storm.

  "Misty!  Simon, come back!  COME BACK!"  Ash yelled as loud as he could over the screaming winds and lashing rain.  It was pelting into his eyes, and he could barely see what he was doing as he struggled to heave the other boat into the water.  As he pushed, he was suddenly grateful for Team Rocket.  Simon had taken Ash's boat, so without Jesse and James and their boat, he would have been stranded.  Thank his lucky stars he'd beaten them to it.

  He shoved as hard as he could, but the boat was heavier than he'd expected.  Suddenly someone appeared at his elbow.  

  "Need some help?"  Brock and Ash pushed together and sent the boat nosing into the water.  They jumped in.

  As the little vessel dived up and over and through the rising waves, Ash looked back to the island.  On the cliff that ran round and joined the beach, he saw Beth running.  She was staring at Simon's boat ahead of them, an arm out, hand reaching for her brother, her other hand clutched at her heart.  Tears streamed down her face with the rain as her hair blew in the raging wind. Her lips parted for a silent scream, lost to Ash's ears over the howling of the wind.  Ash blinked, as his vision seemed to double for a moment, and a sense of deja vous swept over him.  He shook his head.

  Brock nodded grimly to Ash as he took hold of the rudder's handle, at the back of the boat.  Ash nodded back, and turned his face to the storm as they flew through the gale to Misty.

  Misty's eyes flew open as an icy cold wave soaked her.  She gasped and lashed out for a hold on the side of the boat as she tried to figure out where she was, and what had happened.  She remembered the experiment, and then she'd fainted or something, she couldn't remember…

  Another wave hit her back against the side of the boat, and she cried out in surprise and pain.  Then Simon realised she was awake.

  "Don't worry, Misty, I'm getting us out of here.  We'll be safe soon, you'll see, we'll be fine," he yelled to her over the noise of the crashing waves.  His golden eyes looked determined.

  Suddenly the boat creaked loudly, and the wood screamed as a giant wave tore at it.  The planking in the bottom of the boat began to splinter.  Misty held tighter to the side and stared wild-eyed at Simon.  Then she saw something dip into view beyond him.  She caught her name being shouted across the water.  It was Ash and Brock, following in another boat.  They were gaining on her and Simon fast.

  Another huge wave came rushing towards her.  With a cry, Simon threw himself on Misty to protect her, grunting with the force of the wave landing on his back.  

  "Simon!"

  The boat lurched and Simon was thrown across to the other side.  The force of it winded him, and he lay choking, trying to keep a hold on the side of the boat.  

  Ash gritted his teeth as Brock's steering, as well as the rolling waves, swung their boat towards Misty's.  He saw her knuckles whiten as she gripped the side of the boat, and her face was panic-stricken as she stared at Simon, leaning heavily against the other side of the battered vessel.  Ash cried out to her, and her terrified eyes flicked to him for a second before she looked back to Simon.  Ash saw her lips move as she said something to Simon, and reached out towards him.  Ash watched Simon struggle to sit up as the boat rocked about under them.

  Another wave brought Ash's boat careening towards Misty and Simon.  At the same time, he saw a gigantic wave begin to grow and dive towards them.  Misty cried out to him.  The boats were within inches of each other when it all went wrong.

  Misty watched events move before her as if in slow motion.  She saw the next enormous wave come crashing into the boat, saw Simon lunge to his feet, and turn to her, the eyes that had watched over her, and seen into her heart, bright and huge as he gasped for breath.  She watched in horror as the boat groaned with the smack of the wave, and then, almost at exactly the same moment, the boat abruptly began to split apart and Simon was thrown over the side.  His hand, the hand that had not only forced her, but also held her and comforted her only hours before, flew out to make a last grab for the boat's side before the water tore him loose and pulled him under.  The person who had willed his final strength into her when she'd faltered, who'd taken the brutal force of the ocean on himself to shield her only moments before, was torn away from her before she could say a single word to him.  His great gold eyes looked straight into hers for a final horrifying moment, before he disappeared under the foaming waves.  

  "NOOOOOOO!"  Misty's scream cut through the stormy winds.

  "MISTY!  TAKE MY HAND!"  Ash shouted as loud as he could.  Brock glanced over in grim silence, struggling to keep his grip on the rudder.  Misty was still staring in horror at the place where Simon had vanished under the water.  Ash shouted again.  "MISTY!"  

  Finally he caught her attention.  She turned to him with tears in her eyes, a numbed look on her face.  Ash shouted again.  "COME ON!  IF YOU DON'T HURRY, YOU'LL FALL IN TOO!"

  Misty swallowed and nodded.  She glanced around at the splintering boat, which was rapidly breaking into pieces, and scrambled over to the side nearest Ash.  He reached out his hand to her.

  Just then Misty's boat swayed in the stormy water, pulling her away from Ash.  Ash leaned over the side of the boat, shouting her name with all his strength.  She reached back, strain showing in every tensed muscle as she tried to grab at his hand.  A sway of the waves brought their reaching hands together, and Ash gripped Misty's as hard as he could.  The wind lashed at Misty's hair, while the rain plastered it to her skull, and he saw her blink through her tears.  She looked up into his face, and he smiled reassuringly at her.  As his hold on her tightened still more, she half-smiled back, and began to pull herself over the sinking wood towards him.  

  Without any warning, another huge wave crashed over Misty.  Ash held on as hard as he could, but the current had caught her, and her hand began to slip through his.  As he held tight onto her fingers, their gazes locked.  The rain blew between them, stinging their faces, and the wind pulled at them from all directions.  Misty's eyes were huge with fear and bright with tears, Ash's dark with determination.  Ash felt a last cry for help run shivering from Misty's fingers, up his arm, and into his chest to tighten around his too-full heart.  As quickly as the moment joined them, the storm pulled them apart.

  Misty's fingers were pulled from Ash's grip.  Her scream never came.  Before he could even blink, she was gone.


	11. On The Shore

Chapter Eleven

**On The Shore**

  The gentle sun on his face woke Ash.

  He opened his eyes very slowly, and blinked as they adjusted to the thin, honey-gold light that seemed to spill into his vision.  The sun was high, and there was no sign of storm clouds in the sky.  It was very quiet: all he could hear was the gentle whooshing of waves on sand, and a far-off bird singing.  All was calm and saturated with gentle light and soft sounds.  It was soothing to Ash, and he felt a sense of calm steal over him as he slowly reconciled his sleepy mind to the world around him.  He turned his head, trying to ignore the beginnings of a headache.  He could see that he was on an empty beach, one that wasn't familiar to him.  He ached all over, and his arms and legs were stiff.  He groaned as he tried to lift his hand, which felt heavy and sleepy, and brush sand from his face.

  He shut his eyes again for a moment.  Memories began to flood back to him, like pieces of driftwood running up on shore.

  "Misty!"  He sat up suddenly, and groaned again as the movement pulled at his bruised muscles.  He waited for a second to let his head stop spinning.  Then he noticed something down by the water.  It was a person.  They were lying very still.

  "Oh, no," muttered Ash.  He crawled across the sand, wincing with pain, and held his breath as the person's face came into view.  It was Misty.

  Her hair was tangled and wet, except for on top, where it had been dried by the sun.  Her clothes were still damp, and were torn in a couple of places.  She was half-sunk in the wet sand, and the waves gently pulled at her feet as they ran up and down the beach.  She was lying on her front, and her face was turned so that her mouth and one closed eye were above the golden grains of the beach.  

  "Misty?"  Ash spoke softly, afraid of waking her up too suddenly and scaring her.  She didn't move.

  He crept closer, slowly, still afraid to disturb her.  She still wasn't moving.  He knelt over her, and, after waiting a few minutes, gently pushed the hair from her face.  He said her name again, a little louder this time.  No reaction.  

  That was when the possibility began to dawn on him.  It crept into the shadowy part of his mind, insidious and cold, glittering like sharp steel but heavy as lead.  He shook his head, and steeled himself to touch her again.

  He put his arms around her, turning her as gently as he could so that she was lying on her back.  Her still face looked up into his with closed eyes.  He touched her cheek, skin still so soft, and glowing in the sunlight, stroking that silken face with a fingertip, tracing a line down to her chin.  When she didn't move, he began to gently brush the sand from around her mouth and eyes and nose.  He smoothed her bright hair. 

  "I've let you down again, haven't I?  I'm so stupid.  I always let things go wrong."  His voice broke on the last words, and he abruptly pulled her limp body close, tucking her head under his chin and rocking her slowly.  Tears dropped from his tightly-shut eyes.  He shuddered with a violent sob.

  "Why didn't I save you?  I was holding your hand, I should have held on tighter.  I was right there, you were counting on me.  It's all my fault.  All…  All…" He took a shaking breath.  "…All my fault."

  He sat for a while longer, rocking her body and crying quietly.  Gradually, he stilled his shuddering breaths, letting a feeling of passivity spread through him, taking away his understanding and seeming to numb his heart to stillness.  He laid her back down, and knelt beside her, beginning a silent vigil.

  The wind made her seem alive as it moved strands of ginger silk across her face, sending them dancing over her skin.  She was still so pretty.  Her hair was still bright, her face pale, but suffused with a mild pink glow.  He noticed then the necklace she was wearing.  It sparkled coldly in the sun.  Ash suddenly remembered it.  It was the one she'd found before she got sick and disappeared, before everything had changed and she'd been taken away from him.  Before everything had gone wrong.  He reached mechanically round to undo the icy-pale silver chain, and stood up, facing the ocean.

  Abruptly, as a sudden fury raced up from some place deep inside him, he threw it with all his strength, using all his anger at the thing to send it flying far off, where it disappeared under the waves with a tiny splash.  It seemed a presence had vanished with the thing as it fell beneath the water.  Ash stared at where it had disappeared for a moment, feeling his anger die as suddenly as it had risen, before kneeling down beside Misty again.

  He gazed fixedly into her face, pretending she was still alive, making himself expect her to open her eyes at any moment.  He waited.

  The waves continued to whoosh, the far-off birds carried on singing, and the sun slowly warmed Ash's back.  Everything seemed to have stopped, a treacle light poured over everything, holding it in warm amber suspension.  It was like time had stood still, thought Ash.  A golden calm spread over him.

  He didn't think about it.  He leant slowly down over Misty, bringing his face close to hers.  He paused for a moment as the breeze rustled through his hair and cooled his hot face and back.  Finally, he closed his eyes.  He kissed her.

  It was a soft, brief kiss, full of honey and light and faraway times of happiness, warm with sepia tones.  He pulled away and opened his eyes, and found himself choking on a huge lump in his throat.  _It wasn't fair_.  She couldn't be gone, not now.  Not when he'd finally shown her how he felt.  He closed his eyes again.

  A sudden explosion of coughing made his eyes fly open.

  "Misty!  You're alive!"  He was amazed and ecstatic all at once.  Misty's bright blue eyes opened slowly.  She dived straight into his dark gaze.  

  "Ash," she whispered.  "I thought I heard you calling me…" She brought her arms up around him, and they held each other very close for a long time.

  "I don't know what happened to Simon or Beth.  We never found them after the storm."  Officer Jenny tried to answer Misty's questions as Brock and Ash listened.  Misty was back in a hospital bed, having finally woken up after more than a day's sleep.  She looked a lot stronger.

  "Do you think they could have just gone away somewhere?" asked Ash.  His arms were covered in fading bruises, and he had a plaster on his forehead where he'd had a nasty cut.

  "It's very possible.  But we have no way of ever knowing for sure," replied Jenny.

  Brock looked thoughtful.  He himself had been a little bruised and battered by the storm, but luckily, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy had gone out in a bigger boat searching for the band of friends.  They'd found him near the beach at the time of the storm and brought him safely to shore before they went looking for the other two.  He'd been the one to spot Ash and Misty asleep on the beach, a little way north of Opal Town.  "Well, I guess we'll stick around a bit longer, until Misty gets completely better.  Then on to the next town," Brock said.

  Officer Jenny nodded.  "Well, I have to go and see Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Centre.  One of you should come and check on your Pokemon."

  "I'll come with you," said Brock eagerly.  "I'll come back and see you two in a little while, okay?" he said to Ash and Misty.  They nodded.

  Brock and the officer disappeared out of the door, closing it behind them.  Ash and Misty were left alone.  They looked at each other, and there was an awkward pause.

  "I'm glad you were okay," said Misty suddenly.

  "I'm more glad you were," replied Ash.  "I could never have forgiven myself if you'd been really hurt or anything."  His large dark eyes looked sad.

  She was concerned.  "You don't think this was your fault, do you?"

  Ash didn't say anything.

  "Ash, this wasn't your fault.  It really wasn't."

  He looked away from her shining blue gaze.  

  "There was nothing more you could have done.  It was really brave of you to go into the storm after me; you and Brock did all you could.  And it's okay, because we all got through it just fine."

  "Well, I'm sorry, all the same," said Ash.

  "It isn't needed, but if it'll make you feel any better, I forgive you."  Misty smiled sadly.  She took a breath, and spoke honestly.  "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have as my rescuer.  No one else would have done all you did…  Thank you."  That soft sapphire gaze was turned on him again, earnestly and openly, making something pull tight in Ash's chest.  He took a breath, shaking his head slightly.

  "That's okay.  Just wish I'd figured everything out and got to you sooner.  I guess there's not much point thinking about that though."  He pushed himself up from his chair by her bed.  "Well, I think I'll go and get us something to drink.  I don't know about you, but I'm pretty thirsty."  He seemed about to leave, then stopped.  It was as if a little string had tugged him back.  When he turned, slowly, as if moved by an outside force, he saw Misty was looking at him.  Those eyes again, filling him with a blue light, so pale and so deep all at once, making him feel a strength he hadn't known he had, which stirred within him with a soft ache that he couldn't understand.  He took her hand, and she stared at their fingers clasped together, pale entwined with tanned, feeling his thoughts and emotions spilling up from his touch with a soft sound like far-off music.  Her lessons in power had changed her.  She wouldn't have felt this thread of awareness between them before.  She looked up at him again, letting herself fall into the velvet depths of his open, dark gaze.  He was speaking to her, and she focused herself on his voice.

  "Back there on the beach, when you were unconscious…  For a while, I thought you'd...  I thought you might not wake up.  I honestly did.  And I realised something, and before I even thought about it, I…"  He stopped short.  He took a breath to speak, and paused again.  He seemed to be trying to tell her something important.  Misty waited, resisting the warm but nervous pull he was unknowingly reaching out to her with.  Inside, she smiled at how open and honest a person he was.

  "I…"  He blinked, and seemed to change his mind.  The warm thread broke off.  "I'll always be there to rescue you.  That's all."  He squeezed her hand, and quickly left the room.

  Misty gazed at the empty doorway after he'd gone.  She wondered what it was he'd actually been trying to say, independent of the strength of emotion that he'd been spreading through the room, with the rhythm of a heartbeat, before he'd gone.  She knew what she'd wanted to say to him, what she'd been sending out in waves in reply to his subconscious message.  He hadn't felt that reply, strong though it was.

  "I love you," she said quietly.

  She sighed.  Pushing herself up from the bed, she went and stood by the window, looking out at the bright summer day.  A fresh sensation filled her: she could taste it in the air, the feeling of a new start, and the energy for a new day and a new adventure.  She was getting much better already.  They'd be able to continue their journey within a couple of days.  Finally Ash would be able to get his next badge, even though it wouldn't be the Opal Badge.  After everything that had happened, Misty was glad to be moving on to another town.  She still wasn't sure how she felt about everything that had taken place.  She hoped Simon was okay, wherever he was.  She knew he was alive.  It would take a while for her awareness of him to fade completely, and until then, it was something that comforted her.  He wasn't so bad as everyone had thought, even himself.  She sent an earnest and happy _thank you _singing along their thread to him.  She thought she felt a distant echo of comfort sent back to her, as if he were trying to tell her that he loved her, too.  She smiled.  Yes.  She did love him.  She saw it now, what he had become: like a brother to her.  The kind of friend you saw as family: not always kind, not always understanding, but always believing in you and pushing you to try.

  She looked far away to the horizon.  Finally, it was all over.  Tomorrow was another day to start again.

  Suddenly she squinted as she saw something small and bright moving far off above the sparkle of the ocean.  It seemed to be pink, something flying in a spiral up towards the fluffy white clouds that rode the perfect blue sky.

  "Mew…?" wondered Misty.  She watched the flash of colour vanish into the clouds and furrowed her brow in thought.

  Then she let her brows part, and the worry clear from her face.  Mew was alive and flying once more.  She smiled.


End file.
